Mixed results for Hammersmith and Fulham Police in 2009
The latest crime figures for Hammersmith and Fulham show that in 2009, the overall number of crimes fell, but there was a rise in violence and a surge in the number of burglaries.
The total number of crimes committed in the borough fell from 23,134 in 2008 to 22,786 - a drop of nearly 350.
Crimes of violence against the person however rose by almost 100 from 4,811 to 4,920. The rise in bulgaries was even more marked. Overall, they shot up by over 500 from 1,971 in 2009 to 2,488.
What's more worrying for people living in the borough is that the vast majority of those burglaries were residential - rising to 1,861, compared with 1,420 in the previous year. Non-residential burglaries meanwhile went up from 551 to 627.
There was a smaller rise in the number of robberies, from 695 to 711, and sexual crimes were also up. There were 68 cases of rape in 2009 compared with 57 in 2008 and other sexual crimes rose from 159 to 180.
Racist crime also appeared to be up slightly, from 253 to 268.
However, the news wasn't all bad. There were fewer domestic crimes, down from 1,220 to 1,173, and motor vehicle crime showed a small decrease, from a total of 2,987 in 2008 to 2,862.
The number of homophobic crimes was almost halved, from 50 to 27 and particularly welcome news was that gun crime was down from 59 to 42.
The figures also showed that homicide is very rare in Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2008 two people were killed, and in 2009, only one homicide was recorded.
February 1, 2010