Key Findings - Seaside Towns vs UK Averages
Average Crime Levels.
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)- Seaside towns have33%higher crime than the UK average.
Violence and sexual offences- Seaside towns have34%higher crime than the UK average.
Criminal damage and arson- Seaside towns have29%higher crime than the UK average.
Public order- Seaside towns have14%higher crime than the UK average.
Drugs- Seaside towns have9%higher crime than the UK average.
Shoplifting- Seaside towns have30%higher crime than the UK average.
All Other Crime- Seaside towns have13%higher crime than the UK average.
Total Crime- Seaside towns have19%higher crime than the UK average.
Seaside towns have a 19% higher level of crime than the UK average. Most of this can be accounted for by increases seen in the past 4 years where crime levels have increased 17% more than the UK average.
How crime has changed over 4 Years:
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)- Seaside towns performed33%worse than the UK average.
Violence and sexual offences- Seaside towns performed16%worse than the UK average.
Criminal damage and arson- Seaside towns performed3%worse than the UK average.
Public order- Seaside towns performed55%worse than the UK average.
Drugs- Seaside towns were47%higher than the UK average.
Shoplifting- Seaside towns performed14%worse than the UK average.
All Other Crime- Seaside towns performed14%better than the UK average.
Total Crime- Seaside towns performed17%worse than the UK average.
Violent Crime and Sexual Offences - Have seen a massive increase over the 4 years of 54%, with some places recording increase well over 100%.
How crime changes in seaside towns during the tourist season:
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)- increases59%during the summer months.
Violence and sexual offences- increases24%during the summer months.
Criminal damage and arson- increases14%during the summer months.
Public order- increases62%during the summer months.
Drugs- increases17%during the summer months.
Shoplifting- increases12%during the summer months.
All Other Crime- increases28%during the summer months.
Total Crime- increases34%during the summer months.
Seaside towns see large increases in anti-social behaviour (average 59% increase) and public order offences (average increase 62%) during the tourist season.
Some perspective
Although the figures don't look good for seaside towns, more than anything I think it highlights that coastal towns have a unique set of problems and challenges that need to be addressed. While these figures don't make much attractive reading it is important to remember that these are general safe places, and if you compared Soho in London, you will find that almost all towns have less crime than this small area - and we worked in the middle of Soho for years, and couldn't recommend it highly enough.
