POLICE have tried to allay fears that Wellington is becoming a violent town – although crime statistics appear to paint a worrying picture, writes Steve Sowden.

Virtually two-thirds of all crimes reported in the area over the past month had been categorised as ‘violence against the person’, police told members of Wellington Town Council at their latest monthly meeting.

Sgt Dan Bishop, of Wellington Police, told councillors via Zoom video conferencing technology this month that 41 of the 66 crimes were in that category, along with eight thefts, three incidents of arson and criminal damage, and two burglaries. Single incidents of sexual offences, drugs offences and ‘miscellaneous crimes against society’ were also recorded.

“Crime in the main remains low across the whole of Wellington,” said Sgt Bishop. “But once again it may appear that there is a disproportionate number of ‘violence against the person’ offences across our town.

“When delivering police reports previously councillors have on occasion questioned the number of recorded crimes and to help understand the number of crimes this month I have further broken down the way in which these crimes are recorded.”

Twelve of the ‘violence against the person’ incidents were assaults without injury, while ten did result in injury.

Police recorded five incidents apiece for malicious communications and stalking, along with four incidents categorised as ‘cruelty to and neglect of children’.

Three incidents of assault without injury on a police officer were recorded, and one incident apiece for controlling or coercive behaviour, and harassment.

“I can tell you that half of these recorded crimes took place in schools, children’s care homes and hospitals across the town, and were of a low level requiring minimal police involvement but were still recorded to ensure ethical crime recording,” added Sgt Bishop. “When looking into all crimes recorded over the past four weeks we have identified no crime trends or hotspots.”