Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport crime figures reveal spike in violent offences

Hampshire Police Federation chair Zoe Wakefield said it is the ‘main deterrent’ and ‘is not rocket science’.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed crime excluding fraud in Portsmouth, Fareham, Havant and Gosport has slightly decreased in the 12 months to March.

The data shows 25,477 crimes were committed in the city in a year.

But violent crime has increased from the previous 12-month period in all four areas except for Havant.

Possession of weapons increased by 14 per cent in Fareham, with slight increases in Gosport and Havant. In the city offences remained about the same.

Robbery increased by 15 per cent in the city and two per cent in Havant, but stayed the same elsewhere.

Sgt Wakefield said: ‘A greater visible presence does reduce crime.

‘I’m supportive of PCSOs, but when we’re talking about knife and violent crime, that visible presence needs to be police officers who are trained to deal with that violence if that happens.

‘Stop and search is obviously an effective tactic for taking weapons off the streets, but confidence in using those powers could be affected by the recent negative reports in the media, so our officers need to feel confident in using those stop and search powers.’

It comes as Hampshire police have been given cash for 156 new officers as part of the government uplift programme.

Fighting knife crime requires education, Sgt Wakefield, said. She added: ‘I think there’s a lot of education around in schools that I know has been happening and hopefully will happen when the schools go back around the dangers of carrying knives.

‘The removal of a lot of youth services and youth clubs has probably had an impact, so I think it’s an issue for society, not just for the police.

‘The funding needs to go back into all those areas to hopefully reduce the knife and violent crime from all the different angles.’

Drug crime rose by a third in Havant, with smaller increases elsewhere.

Stalking and harassment has grown by around a third in Portsmouth and Fareham - and by 44 per cent in Gosport.

Theft is down overall – but burglary is up in Fareham, while vehicle theft is up in Gosport.

Shoplifting increased in Gosport and Havant.

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