This shows the number of offences and direction of travel for the major crime types. The majority of offence types have seen a increase in 2022 with the exception of Arson and Criminal Damage offences, Drug offences, Miscellaneous Crime offences and Public Order Offences which saw a percentage decrease over the year. It is clear that the impact of Covid-19 restrictions that continued through into 2021 had an impact on crime for all boroughs and overall it resulted in less Total Notifiable Offences. As we emerged fully from any forms of restrictions during 2021, numbers of offences have risen throughout 2022 and are now nearly back to pre-pandemic levels overall.

This shows the top 10 offences in each Bexley ward and what percentage of crimes those offences represent. Bexleyheath, Erith and Belvedere are the top three wards for offence figures, and this further enforces the decision to have Police led multi-agency Problem Solving Processes (PSPs) in place to help tackle the crime issues collaboratively. Violence Against the Person, Theft and Vehicle Offences regularly feature among the top three crime types in the majority of Bexley wards.

TNOs are all the recorded offences added together. Like London overall, Bexley has seen a rise in TNOs in 2022 of 6.68%, from 14.998 to 16,000 offences per year. This is a smaller percentage increase compared to London (8.89%). Bexley ranks the 4th safest borough in London for 2022, with a rate of 60.8 TNOs per 1,000 population. It is clear that the impact of Covid-19 restrictions that continued through into 2021 had an impact on crime for all boroughs and overall it resulted in less Total Notifiable Offences. As we emerged from any forms of restrictions during 2021, the number of offences have risen throughout 2022.

Bexley saw a decrease of 0.56%, from 1,430 offences in 2021 to 1,422 offences in 2022 and ranks us 15th in London for offences per 1,000 population. Whilst Bexley saw a small decrease, for London overall there was an increase of 1.15%.The minor category “Criminal Damage” makes up the largest proportion of offences; 95.57% in 2022 compared to 96.78% in 2021. The low numbers of Arson have increased from 46 in 2021 to 63 in 2022. It should be noted that many borough’s offence rates are at a similar level.

An increase in Burglary offences in Bexley of 5.42%, from 757 in 2021 to 798 in 2022. Bexley saw a reduction of 3.41% for Business & Community Burglary & a rise of 8.70% for Domestic Burglary. Despite this overall increase in Burglary offences, Bexley had the lowest burglary rate in London (per 1,000 population) in 2021 (rate of 3.07) and 2022 (rate of 3.19). Burglary is one of two high-volume local priorities for Bexley, and multi-agency interventions that took place in the autumn months helped to minimise any rise in offences for the year. Post-covid work habits with more people working from home have had a lasting effect on keeping the rate of increase in Burglary offences relatively low.

Bexley saw a decrease in Drug offences of 20.82%, from 922 offences in 2021 to 730 offences in 2022. This is a larger decrease compared to London (5.94%) and saw us move from 10th place in 2021 to 6th place in 2022 compared to other London Boroughs. The minor category “Possession of Drugs” makes up a large proportion of Drug Offences; 83.97% in 2022 compared to 92.8% in 2021. The low numbers of Drug Trafficking (or possession with intent to supply) have increased from 59 in 2021 to 117 in 2022. Substance misuse is a crosscutting theme across the BCSP priorities and is known to be a driver for many offences especially serious violence. A 10 year drug strategy has been published by the Home Office, and local Combating Drug Partnerships have been set up focusing on the supply, demand and treatment elements of the drugs market and the wider implementation of the strategy.

* The volume of “possession” offences recorded is heavily influenced by police activities and priorities (e.g “Stop and Search”). In such cases, recorded crime figures may indicate police activity in this area rather than levels of criminality.

An increase in Possession of Weapon offences in Bexley of 33.67%, from 98 in 2021 to 131 in 2022. Bexley ranks 12th compared to other London Boroughs, however it should be noted that many borough’s offence rates are at a similar level.

* The volume of “possession” offences recorded is heavily influenced by police activities and priorities (e.g “Stop and Search”). In such cases, recorded crime figures may indicate police activity in this area rather than levels of criminality.

A decrease in public order offences in Bexley of 0.84%, from 1,197 in 2021 to 1,187 in 2022. The minor category “Public Fear Alarm or Distress” makes up a large proportion of Public order Offences; 70.51% in 2022 compared to 69.0% in 2021. Bexley ranks in 6th place compared to other London Boroughs.

Bexley saw an increase in Robbery offences of 40.64%, from 187 in 2021 to 263 in 2022. A rise of 50.0% for robbery of personal property and 2.7% for Business Property. Despite this overall increase in Robery offences, Bexley had the lowest robbery rate in London (per 1000 population) in 2021 (rate of 0.76) and 2022 (rate of 1.05).

An increase in Sexual offences in Bexley of 19.81%, from 429 in 2021 to 514 in 2022. Bexley ranks in 7th place for Sexual offences compared to other London Boroughs.

An increase in Theft offences in Bexley of 20.34%, from 2,301 in 2021 to 2,769 in 2022. This is a smaller percentage increase compared to London (29.53%). Despite this increase, Bexley had the lowest Theft offence rate in London (per 1000 population) in 2021 (rate of 9.33) and 2022 (rate of 11.09).

An increase in Vehicle offences in Bexley of 6.43%, from 2,037 in 2021 to 2,168 in 2022. A smaller percentage increase compared to London (7.89%) and ranks Bexley in 3rd place compared to other London Boroughs. The minor category “Theft from a Motor Vehicle” makes up the largest proportion of Vehicle offences; 45.25% in 2022 compared to 47.42% in 2021. Vehicle crime is a high volume offence in Bexley, however, the BCSP are of the opinion that it should be tackled by way of crime reduction similar to that of Burglary.  This raises awareness of what the public can do to help minimise theft of, and from vehicles. Shared social media communications message and information shared at events sits alongside picking up on linked series of thefts swiftly to improve chances of detection. Due to presenting lower threat, risk and harm, vehicle crime will not be a named priority for the BCSP in 2022/23. However, these figures will be monitored closely and a partnership approach is being taken to tackle this issue.

An increase in Violence against the person offences in Bexley of 7.43%, from 5,354 in 2021 to 5,752 in 2022. Bexley has remained in 9th place for 2022 (rate of 23.03) compared to other London Boroughs. We have employed a Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) Coordinator through MOPAC funding to promote reporting of incidents, delivery of professionals training, challenging perpetrator behaviour and support VAWG victims. Violent Crime is a named BCSP priority.

A small increase in Domestic Abuse Incidents in Bexley of 0.55%, from 4,008 in 2021 to 4,030 in 2022. Domestic Abuse incidents in Bexley have been increasing year on year which may be directly due to awareness and the implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Bexley ranks in 13th place for Domestic Abuse Incidents compared to other London Boroughs. This position is unusually high when you consider Bexley tends to sit in the bottom five of the London Boroughs for total notifiable offences. The ward with the highest proportion of Domestic Abuse offences in 2021 and 2022 was Slade Green and Northend. Domestic Abuse is a mandatory London-wide priority.

Over the past 5 years, the number of high risk Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) cases discussed and repeat cases have also shown a year-on-year increase from a repeat victim percentage of 10% in 2017 (27 repeats cases out of a total 275 MARAC cases) to 36% in 2022 (231 repeats cases out of a total 634 MARAC cases). This significant rise in MARAC cases has mainly been due to a practitioner training programme which has enabled more cases to be identified and relevant pathways put in place.

A decrease in Anti-Social Behaviour calls to the police in Bexley of 27.37%, from 6,108 in 2021 to 4,436 in 2022. A slightly lower percentage change compared to London (28.44%). Bexley dropped 2 places compared to other London Boroughs, ranking 4th place in 2022 with a rate of 17.76 offences per 1000 population. ASB perpetrators can be referred through to, and managed by, the multi-agency ASB Prevention Panel (ASBPP) and appropriate tools and powers are used to desist their behaviour. ASB is also a named BCSP priority.

An increase in non-domestic abuse violence with injury offences in Bexley of 14.18%, from 1,093 in 2021 to 1,248 in 2022. In comparison to other London Boroughs, Bexley moved down one place from 8th in 2021 (rate of 4.43) to 9th in 2022 (rate of 5.00). The largest proportion of offences were seen in Bexleyheath ward with 144 offences. Non-DA VWI is the BCSP’s other local volume crime priority and like VATP offences is tackled holistically under the Violent Crime priority umbrella. From 2022/23 this will also include tackling the Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) agenda, and consider any additional responsibilities under the new Serious Violence Duty placed on all CSPs.

** These categories are created by using “flags” and formatting the data in different ways. Therefore, these Incidents and Offences will be counted again in the other crime categories listed above.

A decrease in Hate crime offences in Bexley of 3.14%, from 478 in 2021 to 463 in 2022. The majority of hate crimes in Bexley in 2021 and 2022 were motivated by racist and religious reasons. These offence figures are relatively low in number especially when looked at as a percentage of all London offences (Bexley make up 1.87% of all Hate Crimes across London. Compared to other London Boroughs, Bexley moved up one place from 6th in 2021 (with a rate of 19.38) to 5th place in 2022 (with a rate of 18.54). Hate Crime issues will form part of a future local Victims statement and as Victims is also a named BCSP priority, we have employed a Hate Crime & Modern Slavery Officer through MOPAC funding to promote reporting of incidents, delivery of professionals training and support victims of Hate Crime.

Please note: One hate crime offence may be flagged with more than one hate crime category. Therefore the total of the sub-categories cannot be summed and will not equal the total number of hate crimes.

** These categories are created by using “flags” and formatting the data in different ways. Therefore, these Incidents and Offences will be counted again in the other crime categories listed above.

The London Borough of Bexley was successful in a bid to be one of the extended areas for the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) Devolved Decision Pilot for Children. This Home Office funding has enabled a NRM Coordinator to sit within the Community Safety Team and manage a local panel that makes the decisions on prospective child victims of Modern Slavery. It is hoped that by building local mechanisms, the quality and timeliness of decisions will improve, as well as improvements and increased connectivity between existing safeguarding processes and the NRM process. A Hate Crime & Modern Slavery Officer is in place to promote reporting of incidents, delivery of professionals training and support victims of Modern Slavery. No published data around Modern Slavery has been included within the JSA, however, Modern Slavery is included within the Victims priority.

An increase in Weapon-enabled crime offences in Bexley of 17.01% from 194 in 2021 to 227 in 2022. A rise in Weapon-enabled crime was also seen across London (13.29%). The majority of weapon-enabled crime offences in Bexley during 2021 and 2022 were knife crime offences. Despite this increase in Weapon-enabled Crime, Bexley moved up one place from 5th in 2021 (with a rate of 0.79) to 4th place in 2022 (with a rate of 0.91).  One of the three minimum standards of the Violence & Vulnerability Reduction Action Plan (VVRAP) is for the BCSP Board Meeting agendas to include Knife, Gun and Serious Violence Performance, community tension monitoring and stop and search as standing items. Therefore these figures are presented quarterly at the BCSP Board by the BCU Superintendent.

Please note: Knife Crime with Injury and Knife Crime with Injury (Personal Robbery) are sub-categories of Knife Crime. Gun Crime Personal Robbery and Gun Crime Lethal Barrelled Discharged are sub-categories of Gun Crime. Victim categories are a count of victims only and not included in the offence figures.

** These categories are created by using “flags” and formatting the data in different ways. Therefore, these Incidents and Offences will be counted again in the other crime categories listed above.

There was a total of 696 respondents to the 2022 Bexley Community Safety Survey compared to 630 in 2021. In 2022, the average safety score was 6.24 out of 10 (10 being the most safe). In both the 2021 and 2022 surveys, the number one crime priority for respondents was Burglary followed by Drug related issues and Vehicle crime. The number one Anti-social behaviour priority in 2022 was Drug Paraphernalia, followed by ASB from groups loitering, and Littering. The top 3 crime and ASB concerns remained consistent for 2021 and 2022. These concerns mirror our findings from the data in this JSA and help contribute to the CSP priority decision-making process.