New statistics show Thames Valley Police received over 500,000 contacts from the public, attended 81,000 incidents and made 16,000 arrests over a six-month period in 2023.

As part of its ongoing commitment to inform the public of the work it does, Thames Valley Police has released statistics on activity from 1 April 2023 to September 30 2023.

Over the course of the six month period , police officers made 16,239 arrests relating to a range of different crimes, found 3290 missing people and sadly attended 711 tragic sudden deaths, supporting families at the most difficult time.

On the roads

Officers from Roads Policing and response teams attended 3228 road traffic collisions. 1,007 arrests were made relating to drink driving, 1,220 for driving whilst distracted by a mobile phone and 1,862 enforcements for people not wearing a seatbelt.

The detection of distraction offences such as driving while using a mobile phone, have increased by 78%, while seatbelt offences are up by 72% when compared with the same six month period of last year.

In terms of speeding, 48,794 offences were detected as speeding by officers in camera vans , while 38,821 were detected speeding by cameras.

Detection of speeding offences has increased by 91% from the same period last year, while fatal collisions are down slightly on this time last year and down even further on the previous year.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Bettington, of the Joint Roads Policing Unit said: “These numbers highlight the vast amount of work our roads policing officers carry out across the Thames Valley every day.

“We will continue to work together with partners across a range of agencies to find ways to reduce and prevent offending. Everyone should be able to use our roads in a safe and healthy way. We will educate where appropriate to prevent re-offending and explain where there is an opportunity to encourage safer use of our roads.

“We are dedicated to keeping road users safe and will be persistent in dealing with those that commit offences on the road network.”

Thames Valley Police is pleased to support Road Safety Week, which is running from 19-25 November and focuses on the increased risk of a crash when drivers go over the speed limit.

Action on domestic abuse and violence against women and girls 

Police officers remain completely committed to tackling domestic violence, with 28% of all arrests made, being related to domestic violence.  

April – September this year saw a 22% increase in charges for rape and an 11% increase in charges for other sexual offences compared to the same period in 2022.

Chief Constable Jason Hogg said: “In the last six months, we have responded to more than half a million contacts from the public and attended 81,143 incidents, which represents an incredible demand on our 8,400 officers, staff and volunteers. 

“I’m very proud of the job we do in keeping our communities safe across the Thames Valley, not only by responding to emergencies but also disrupting and preventing crime across the three counties. 

“Increased rape offence charges and domestic abuse arrests show how our proactive work targeting these crime types is showing real progress. 

“Behind each of these numbers are the victims of crime, and a priority for the force over the coming year is to place them at the centre of our service and work tirelessly to improve our service to all.”  

Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, said: “Today’s statistics highlight how the force continues to see a huge demand from the public with over half a million contacts being made over the last six month, many of which do not relate to policing issues.

“Across this period, I am pleased there has been a 4% reduction in knife-enabled crime, following the successful roll-out of Operation Deter across the Thames Valley. Despite some recent increases in burglaries these number are still around a third lower than in 2019, meaning you’re less likely to be a victim of such an awful crime than before the pandemic.

“Over the coming months, I am hoping to see an increase reported in retail crime such as shoplifting as we seek to boost the confidence of businesses in reporting these crimes through the roll-out of the new Disc system to respond to retail crime.”

Numbers at a glance from 1 April 2023 – 30 September 2023

507,833 total contacts from the public – up 2% on the same period in 2022.

220,352 calls to 999, 231,602 calls to 101; and 55,879 online reports.

3,307 missing people found, 384 of these were deemed high risk and 1685 of these being children.

81,143 incidents attended.

16,239 arrests made.

393 knife crime arrests.

66 rape offence charges.

4616 domestic abuse arrests.

 Performance in numbers  

• 11% increase in sexual offence charges (243 to 218) 
• 22% increase in rape charges (66 from 54) 
• 8% increase in arrests (16,239 from 15,099)
• 4% decrease in knife enabled crime reports (608 from 631)*
• 18% increase in personal robbery (502 to 592)*
• 16% increase in residential burglary – including sheds and garages (2,144 to 2,490)*
• 4% increase in formal action taken on rural crime (26 to 27)*