By Mary De-Wind
As the nation enters a second lockdown, hopes are high one side effect of Lockdown 1 will be repeated in Leicester – a significant decrease in the city’s crime rate.
Boris Johnson announced on Monday, March 23, that everyone was to stay at home and only leave the house for essentials or to go to work. In compliance with the Government’s restrictions all non-essential shops were closed.
At the start of the year, the number of crimes reported in Leicester was significantly high but after March the rate decreased due to lockdown.
This year, the highest amount of reported crimes was 400 in January and the lowest was 100 in May. The most common crimes reported during September were public order, shoplifting, violence and sexual offences.
As the graph above shows, from March to July the number of crimes dropped significantly, at a time when, due to lockdown, a lot of people were at home and were only out for essentials and work.
Whereas from July, the reported crime rates rose as soon as lockdown rules were lifted.
According to the Police UK website, there were 163 incidents of violence and sexual offences.
The number of shoplifting offences reported dropped substantially during lockdown as many of the shops were closed, but as shops started to reopen there was a sudden increase in shoplifting from July to August.
It is expected the second lockdown will also see the number of reported shoplifting offences decrease as only essential shops will be open.
Police nevertheless urged people to continue reporting crime by calling 999 or reporting it to their nearest station.
More crime statistics information can be found at www.police.uk
