The latest crime figures taken from the nation policing web site (click) show a stable picture in York.

A lot of effort has gone into making the City centre safer and this shows with a slight downward trend in crime reports during the last 12 months.  The number of reports each month varies between 450 and 550. The largest number of incidents were reported in December 2018 so all eyes will be on the figures for last month when they become available.

Anti-social behaviour accounts for 34% of the reports.   This is in line with the popular conception that the City centre can be a rowdy environment at times.

Looking at the area outside the centre, which includes a large rural neighbourhood, crime reports have averaged around 1300 a month over the last year.

Anti social behaviour again is the most frequent report (31%) but is closely followed by “violence and sexual offences” (26%). The latter is mainly domestic disagreements.

A lot of historic information is available at a more local level.

In the Westfield Ward crime reports average around 150 a month.  Reports peak in the summer months.

Anti social behaviour (33%) and violence (28%) are the biggest issues.  10% of reports concern criminal damage (vandalism, graffiti etc) and arson.

A graph of crime reports in Westfield (left), prepared 5 years ago, shows a very similar volume of issues.

The Police are currently recruiting additional officers and PCSOs in North Yorkshire.