CRIME in Winchester has plummeted since the Covid lockdown, according to new figures.

Winchester City Council has said that the index of crimes including burglary, robbery, and assault has dropped 27.8 per cent.

Senior local police commander Ch Insp Jon Turton said the reason was more than just the three lockdowns but also partnership working between the police and other agencies and focussing on priorities.

He said: "There has been almost a 30 per cent reduction in overall crime. It is easy to give credit to Covid but we have been working hard with partner agencies and done a lot of work to support more vulnerable people and tackling persistent offenders."

Violence was down 12.8 per cent; sexual offences down 13.1 per cent; robbery, down 54.8 per cent; theft down 52 per cent; criminal damage down 14 per cent. Drugs offences were up with police taking a proactive, intelligence-led approach.

However domestic violence rose by nine per cent from 940 cases in 2019 to 1,022 in 2020.

Reports of begging plummeted from 472 in 2019 to 81 last year.

Ch Insp Turton highlighted recent County Lines investigations which has seen the arrest and charging of several London men for drugs offences.

He said the aim was dismantle the network of dealing: "Sometimes it is just a matter of time before someone else uses a different SIM cards and uses the same network and carries on. We have closed these lines down, we are trying to cut the snakes head off than just causing minor disruption."

A new scheme called Hotel Watch working with reception desks to increase awareness of suspicious people. "We were called to a hotel in Winchester where two young lads who had been missing from Croydon for a number of months and they were found with loots of drugs. They were recognised as vulnerable and were handed over to the St Giles Trust. A success story and a good example of partnership working."

The lockdown has seen an increase in some anti-social behaviour with issue at Compton Lock near Twyford. Things got so bad that Twyford Parish Council hired a private security firm to patrol the area at busy times last summer.

Ch Insp Turton told the city council scrutiny committee: "With Covid restrictions Winchester has "been quite complaint in comparison with other areas."

Cllr Caroline Brook, Conservative for Denmead ward, asked about dog thefts. Ch Insp Turton said it was "not something we are seeing in Hampshire. It is a crime close to everyone's heart when it does happen but they are really rare in Hampshire. Social media has gone into a spin and generated a lot of concern and a lot of interest."

However on Monday the police tweeted about an attempted theft in Winnall warned owners to beware.

Fly tipping is on the top with 1,531 cases in 2020, up from 1,236 in 2019, a jump of 24 per cent.

On domestic violence Cllr Jackie Porter, portfolio holder for wellbeing, said: "There were 8.7% more referrals for domestic abuse in 2020 than in 2019, and whilst self-referrals from April to December were 50% of 2019 figures, Police referrals increased by 86%, and we saw a 100% increase in reported cases from Children’s services.

"Tragically, over 1,022 cases of domestic abuse were reported in our district in 2020. The city council plays their part alongside other professionals to ensure victims are safe and housed.’"

Cllr Porter also recalled the hard work of former councillor Ann Craig, who had until recently been chairman of the local Domestic Abuse Forum, and was a stalwart advocate to Stop Domestic abuse but who sadly died earlier this year.

Cllr Porter added, ‘I’d like to remind everyone that self-referrals can always be made to the Domestic Abuse helpline 0808 2000 247. We are acutely conscious that about one third of domestic abuse victims are male: it can happen to absolutely anyone."

Stop Domestic Abuse reported that self-referrals were down by over half which is

indicative of the fact that individuals are finding it more difficult to reach out during

lockdown. The average case length for the service has increased as there is a need

for longer interventions this year due to the pandemic, which has as a side effect

resulted in unhealthy coping mechanisms being used by some clients. The length of

time spent in refuge by individual clients during 2020 increased due to additional

Covid difficulties, hence there were fewer spaces available to new clients.

Increase

in access to community based victims were supported overall because of this which

meant a shift towards higher risk cases being managed in the community this year. A

reduction in the number of face to face and group sessions has been seen overall

which reflects the need to suspend this type of work in March 2020. A switch was