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Has Local Crime Increased Since Elmbridge Streetlights Went Out?
We Have The Answer!
Back in January we published a detailed preview of all the streetlights that will be turned off across Elmbridge between the hours of Midnight and 5am as part of the Surrey County Council’s ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy.
At the time we said:
“Assuming this goes ahead we will be monitoring the official local crime statistics to see whether this has had any impact on reported crime across the borough – watch this space!”
As promised, here are the results of our analysis of the official figures of reported crime as published by Surrey Police.
We will be answering questions like:
What are the monthly crime figures across Elmbridge?
Do these show an increase in crime from January?
How much crime is reported in YOUR area?
What types of crimes are being committed?
Has criminal activity increased in YOUR area since the implementation of the ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy?
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Crime in Elmbridge
I didn’t want to write too much editorial as I wanted the figures to speak for themselves but looking at the graph above which shows the volume of reported crime each month since January 2016 there is a clear and sustained increase in reported crime borough-wide since the introduction of Part Night Lighting in Elmbridge.
Is this causation or correlation?
Would this increase in crime have happened anyway?
There is no way of knowing this for sure but IF, and it is a big IF, there is a direct link between the street lights being switched off and the demonstrated increase in crime since January 2017 then we would like to think that a review will take place between Elmbridge Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Whilst we appreciate there is immense pressure on council budgets across the country is it not a clear false economy when a policy is introduced to save public money that just creates additional and unnecessary stress on other public sectors such as the Police, Fire and Ambulance services, the Courts, Social Workers, Probation Officers and the NHS?
We have created a Facebook Group with the aim of discussing borough wide issues such as this – click the link below to join!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElmbridgeResidents/
Crime by Area
The above chart shows how much crime has been reported, by area, since the beginning of the year.
I should mention that it takes no account of the size of each areas population.
What type of crime is being committed?
I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anyone to see that Anti-Social Behaviour is the biggest issue across the borough, closely followed by Violence and Sexual Offences.
Robbery, Possession of Weapons and Theft from the Person (Mugging?) thankfully seem to be quite rare occurrences.
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Crime in Your Area
Where is crime happening in your area?
How much crime is being reported?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
Use the quick links below to jump straight to your local area!
Hersham
Walton Centre
North Walton
South Walton & Ambleside
Esher & Claygate
Weybridge
Cobham & Oxshott
West Molesey
East Molesey & Weston Green
The Dittons & Hinchley Wood
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Crime in Hersham
Where is crime happening in Hersham?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
Hersham Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed.
Hersham – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) Hersham is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
We then see a rapid increase far exceeding the volume of reported crime during any month covered by this study (from January 2016).
Has crime increased in Hersham since January 31st?
What do you think?
Hersham – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just Elmbridge, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are the ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
Hersham – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary and Car Theft don’t show any significant increase.
The biggest increase has been in Anti-Social Behaviour.
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Crime in Walton Centre
Where is crime happening in Walton Centre?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
Walton Centre Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
Walton Centre – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in Walton Centre?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) Walton Centre is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
We then see a rapid increase far exceeding the volume of reported crime during any month covered by this study (from January 2016).
As you can see from the graph above there was a significant spike in reported crime between February and April, this has tailed off a little but still not to pre-part night lighting levels.
Walton Centre – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just Walton Centre, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
Walton Centre – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary and Car Theft don’t show any significant increase.
The graph above clearly shows just what a problem Anti-Social Behaviour is becoming across the borough since the lights went out.
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Crime in North Walton
Where is crime happening in North Walton?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
North Walton Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
North Walton – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in North Walton?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) North Walton is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
From the graph above we can see that reported crime had significantly reduced between July 2016 and February 2017 but the trend is now definitely showing an increase in reported crime since February 2017.
North Walton – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just North Walton, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
North Walton – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
North Walton shows a slight increase in all crime with Anti Social Behaviour showing a increase of 50% from January to June, Public Order offences doubled.
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Crime in South Walton & Ambleside
Where is crime happening in South Walton & Ambleside?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
South Walton & Ambleside Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
South Walton & Ambleside – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in South Walton & Ambleside?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) South Walton & Ambleside is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
We see from the graph above that reported crime was on a definite downward trend towards the end of 2016 but that this trend completely reversed as we go into 2017.
South Walton & Ambleside – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just South Walton & Ambleside, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
South Walton & Ambleside – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
We see a significant jump in Burglary from January’s figure of 2 to the February figure of 8, though this dropped in April and May only to increase again to 5 in June.
A HUGE increase in Anti-Social Behaviour and Violence and Sexual Offences.
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Crime in Esher & Claygate
Where is crime happening in Esher & Claygate?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
Esher & Claygate Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
Esher & Claygate – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in Esher & Claygate?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) Esher & Claygate is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
We then see a rapid increase far exceeding the volume of reported crime during any month covered by this study (from January 2016).
Esher & Claygate – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just Esher & Claygate, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
Esher & Claygate – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary has actually declined in number from 17 reported in January to 9 in June.
A HUGE increase in Anti-Social Behaviour as we are seeing across the borough.
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Crime in Weybridge
Where is crime happening in Weybridge?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
Weybridge Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
Weybridge – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in Weybridge?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) Weybridge is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
We then see a rapid increase far exceeding the volume of reported crime during any month covered by this study (from January 2016) – what is interesting in Weybridge is this then seems to return to pre-part night lighting figures across April, May and June.
Weybridge – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just Weybridge, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
Weybridge – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary showed an upward trend in March and April but has since reduced.
A HUGE increase in Anti-Social Behaviour – this is a borough wide issue – we hope that publishing borough wide figures will lead to some borough wide coordination to help tackle this!
Whilst we see a reduction in most crime in June its clear to see that Anti Social Behaviour and Violence and Sexual Offences are still on the increase.
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Crime in Cobham & Oxshott
Where is crime happening in Cobham & Oxshott?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
Cobham & Oxshott Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
Cobham & Oxshott – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in Cobham & Oxshott?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) Cobham & Oxshott is following the borough wide pattern of a dip in reported crime in the month immediately following the streetlights being turned off.
We then see a rapid increase far exceeding the volume of reported crime during any month covered by this study (from January 2016).
Cobham & Oxshott – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just Cobham & Oxshott, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
Cobham & Oxshott – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary has shown a significant decrease since January 2017.
A HUGE increase in Anti-Social Behaviour – this is a borough wide issue – we hope that publishing borough wide figures will lead to some borough wide coordination to help tackle this!
We are also seeing a pattern of increased Violence and Sexual Offences across many wards in Elmbridge.
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Crime in West Molesey
Where is crime happening in West Molesey?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
West Molesey Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
West Molesey – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in West Molesey?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) West Molesey bucks the borough wide pattern and actually shows a decrease across the first few months of 2017, reported crime spikes between April and May but settles down to late 2016 levels again in June.
West Molesey – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just West Molesey, but potentially the whole country – although West Molesey has more reported Violence and Sexual Offences than Anti Social Behaviour.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
West Molesey – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
As previously mentioned, West Molesey actually bucks the borough wide trend and shows a decrease in the majority of reported crime since January.
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Crime in East Molesey & Weston Green
Where is crime happening in East Molesey & Weston Green?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
East Molesey & Weston Green Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
East Molesey & Weston Green – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in East Molesey & Weston Green?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) East Molesey & Weston Green is following the borough wide pattern of an increase in reported crime since the streetlights were switched off.
East Molesey & Weston Green – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just East Molesey & Weston Green, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
East Molesey & Weston Green – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary despite showing an initial increase has reduced. Vehicle Crime has also jumped from a single incident in January to 8 in February and now 6 in June.
A HUGE increase in Anti-Social Behaviour with Public Order offences and Violence and Sexual Offences also showing an increase.
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Crime in The Dittons & Hinchley Wood
Where is crime happening in The Dittons & Hinchley Wood?
What sort of crime is being committed?
Is it getting worse?
The Dittons & Hinchley Wood Crime Map
This is the official Surrey Police crime map for June 2017 (the most recent data published) showing where crime is being committed:
The Dittons & Hinchley Wood – Crime figures for the last 18 months:
Has the Surrey County Council ‘Part Night Lighting’ policy had an impact on local crime in The Dittons and Hinchley Wood?
As you can see from the graph above (using data provided by police.co.uk) The Dittons & Hinchley Wood is showing a very erratic pattern!
From an initial surge in reported crime this then plummeted between March and April only to increase again across April, May and June.
The Dittons & Hinchley Wood – Type of crime being committed:
We don’t think it’s any secret that there is an ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ issue across, not just The Dittons & Hinchley Wood, but potentially the whole country.
We are waiting confirmation from Surrey Police as to what ‘Other Crime’ or ‘Other Theft’ includes.
Having seen the crimes being committed – are they on the increase during 2017?
(crimes like Car Theft and Burglary are ones you would expect to increase during darkness)
The Dittons & Hinchley Wood – Crimes committed each month in 2017*:
*Top 6 crimes being shown
Burglary showed a dramatic increase in February and March but has since reduced.
A HUGE increase in Anti-Social Behaviour – from 9 incidents reported in January to 21 in June!
Violence and Sexual Offences have shown a decrease since January.
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Crime in Elmbridge – Conclusion
I didn’t want to write too much editorial as I wanted the figures to speak for themselves but I think it looks very clear that crime has increased since January in virtually every area of Elmbridge.
Now is this causation or correlation? Would this increase in crime have happened anyway?
Of course there’s no way of knowing this.
However with these statistics showing a clear increase in crime along with a huge amount of discomfort, nervousness and fear experienced by residents across the borough we would like to think that Elmbridge Borough Council should be able to work with Surrey County Council and consider alternatives.
Whilst we appreciate there is immense pressure on council budgets is it not a clear false economy when a policy is introduced to save money that just creates additional and unnecessary stress on other public sectors such as the Police, Fire and Ambulance services, the Courts, Social Workers, Probation Officers and the Health Service?
Please help and share this post among your friends and neighbours across Surrey – hopefully a sensible compromise can be reached!
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