Cheshire Police on a rise in sexual offences in Warrington

More sexual offences were recorded in the town over the last year, amid a record high number of such crimes across England and Wales.

The force recorded 711 incidents of sexual offences in Warrington in the 12 months to December, according to the Office for National Statistics - an increase of eight per cent on the previous year.

At 3.4 crimes per 1,000 people however, that was in line with the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 3.1.

The total number of offences in Warrington fell by two per cent, with police recording 17,731 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate at 84.7 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 85.5.

Other crimes recorded in Warrington included 8,144 violent offences, demonstrating a rise of three per cent.

At 3,579, theft offences were down nine per cent, while incidents of criminal damage and arson fell by 10 per cent at 1,539.

A considerable decrease of 19 per cent was recorded in terms of possession of weapons such as firearms or knives at 52, however at 2,928, public order offences saw a slight increase.

In response to the statistics, deputy chief constable Chris Armitt said: “It is clear that any increase in reported crime is not ok, but we must look comparatively at the data that shows Cheshire is well below the 6.5 per cent increase nationally.

“During the period of the statistics, we have seen a mixture of lockdown and lifting of restrictions, which runs parallel to our continued effort to crackdown on offenders coming into Cheshire to commit crime.

Police have given their thoughts on the latest crime statistics for Warrington

“What is most concerning for me is that we are continuing to see an increase in rape and sexual offences being reported, and I want to make it explicitly clear to anyone who is intent on committing this type of crime will feel the full force of the law.

“I also want victims to know that they will be believed, supported and respected when reporting incidents of rape and sexual assaults to the force.

“Violence against women and girls is a priority for the force, and as part of our continued support we have invested in a range of innovative technology to enhance the services that we provide.”

An example of this is how Cheshire Police is the first force in the north west to roll out the GoodSAM Instant Help platform.

This allows anyone who calls 999 to live stream from their phone to call operators, enabling police to capture real-time evidence which can be used in court.

The force has also recently launched a new online reporting form for victims of rape, sexual assault and harassment.

“The online form allows victims to provide all the information we need to launch a thorough investigation, reducing the trauma of reliving an event in written form as we know it can be extremely difficult to voice what has happened,” DCC Armitt added.

“In feedback, people have told us that they could not have spoken about this face-to-face, but the online form gave them the confidence to make the initial steps in reporting it to us.

“This is also supported by the mobile digital forensic unit, which will enables officers to extract data from digital devices – along with data extraction kiosks at each local policing unit.

“The message is clear – we will do everything possible to make Cheshire a hostile place for criminals, and I want the public to know that we will do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice, continuing with our commitment to keep the residents of Cheshire safe.”

In an emergency always dial 999, but if you are a victim of crime, you can report it via cheshire.police.uk/ro/report/