Did the Olympics encourage garden crime?

Before the London 2012 Olympics began garden crime was said to be rising all over Britain, with a 10% rise on the previous year.  Reports on garden, bike and shed theft, were a daily occurrence and it was thought that crime would possibly increase over the Olympic period, as these thefts are easy targets. With the majority of the country paying more attention to the TV, less time outside in their gardens and more time away from home celebrating Team GBs Olympic success, gardens could have been a thief’s playground.

Did the Olympics increase crime rates

However recent reports have shown that crime rates were down during the Olympic period. This trend has been reported in Buckinghamshire, Thames valley, Bracknell, Dorset and London.

With the Police out in force in London for the games, crime rates were bound to fall. London’s Mayor Boris Johnson confirmed this, by stating that crime in London had fallen by 5% compared to the same period in the previous year.

The Thames Valley police reported that there has been less crime and fewer 999 calls had been made than usual. Elsewhere in Dorset, it was found that during the Olympic period “crime levels have been lower than for the same period last year”.

The Bracknell police chief said that the London Olympic Games had a ‘calming effect’ on crime in the area. Low levels of crime were recorded across Bracknell. However there has been a 17% rise in burglaries across the area, during the Olympic period, suggesting that criminals have been taking advantage of the public’s preoccupation with the Olympics.

Police report reduced crime

The above are all areas where the Olympics were focused. With the increase in police presence, maybe this isn’t such a surprise. How were areas outside of the Olympics reach affected?

Coventry saw a reduction in crime during the Olympic period. There have been over 1000 fewer victims of crime compared the same period in the previous year, with big reductions in burglary, robbery and vehicle crime.  Read more>

North Yorkshire also saw a 13% reduction in overall crime during the same period, with 1,311 fewer victims.

These statics show that the Olympics didn’t create the crime spree that we were all expecting and the Olympics did a wonderful job at bringing the nation together. Now let’s see if this can last!