Wiltshire Police has lowest recorded crime across England and Wales

Wiltshire Police has the lowest amount of recorded crime across England and Wales, according to the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

The latest figures show that Wiltshire Police recorded the lowest number of crimes of any of the 42 forces in the country in the 12 months leading up to September 2021.Per head of population, there were 52.7 crimes for every 1000 residents across the county.

But among those crimes reported, there was an 8% increase in reports of sexual offences - including reports of rape.

Wiltshire Police say this uplift is because of the work that has been done to address the understanding that this type of crime is often under reported by victims.

There was also a 12% increase in reported stalking and harassment offences but the force says it is the second lowest nationally in recorded crimes of this type per head of population.

They say there were 5.36 stalking and harassment crimes for every 1,000 people, significantly below the average in similar force areas of 10.64 per 1,000.

Supt Sarah Robbins said: "While we shouldn't rely on statistics to tell the whole story - the indications from this latest set of results reflect the real achievements we are making as an organisation to drive down crime volume throughout the county.

"We never forget that behind these statistics are real victims of crime - and we cautiously welcome the indication that we have fewer victims of crime per head of population than all 42 other police forces in England and Wales.

"Whilst we accept that not all crime is reported, we have been working hard to encourage community engagement and trust with our officers in order to reach out to victims.

"We are beginning to see notable success in this regard, as evidenced by increased reporting of stalking and harassment and sexual offences.

"These figures bring into sharp focus the fact that despite being one of the lowest funded forces in the country - we are among the top performing areas when compared to similar force areas.

"We recognise that there is still much work to be done."