Crime report: Statistical sleights in sleepy Salisbury

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Police solve less than a quarter of crimes

The main story in this week's Salisbury Journal was about parking. "Double yellow lines, signposts and restricted parking zones could be set to spill outside the ring road into Salisbury's suburbs – to the horror of some residents," it read.

Such are the worries of a city renowned for its cathedral and medieval centre. Yet Salisbury's police appear to find solving crimes increasingly difficult. Detection of burglaries has more than halved in a year and detection of cases involving violence is down by close to a fifth. From 1999 to 2000, its detection rate for violence against the person was an impressive 92.3 per cent. Yet this year it fell to 74.7 per cent. Just over half of sexual offence crimes were solved last year, down from 81.4 per cent of cases cleared up in the previous 12 months.

Crime is far from rampant. One local reporter said: "When the national media refers to us, it is as 'sleepy Salisbury' or 'genteel Salisbury', both of which are relatively true. It is full of tweedy types."

Salisbury has the usual small-city problem of night-time rowdiness, exacerbated by a residential area in the centre. Beryl Jay, a Wiltshire county councillor, said: "At 5am you can hear them running up the road, screaming and breaking windows. But fear of crime is worse than the crime itself ... people are always calling me about abandoned vehicles."

She cites the city's 10-year investment in CCTV. Salisbury even has a system for locals to call camera operators so they can "follow" them home.

Superintendent Andy Tatam said the priority had been reducing crime. "The majority of offences are committed by prolific offenders. Catching a prolific offender in a certain period can have a significant impact in detection terms."