Nottinghamshire Police data reveals violence and sexual offences most reported type of crime in Newark in 2023 — with officers promising to protect women and girls

Violence and sexual offences were the most commonly reported crimes in Newark last year, with more than one thousand reports made.

These crimes made up nearly a third (32%) of the total reports made to the Newark Neighbourhood Policing Team from January to November 2023.

Nottinghamshire Police data reveals 3,631 crimes were reported in the area — which covers the town centre, Northgate, Farndon Road and Hawtonville – and, of those, 1,164 of those were related to issues of violence and sexual offences.

The month with the most reports of crime was May, with 474, and the least was January, with 300.

Other commons issues were anti-social behaviour, with 694 reports, shoplifting (674) and criminal damage and arson (423).

Other reported crimes in Newark included:

• Bicycle theft – 71 reports
• Burglary – 133 reports
• Drugs – 81 reports
• Other theft – 214 reports
• Possession of weapons – 40 reports
• Public order – 306 reports
• Robbery – 36 reports
• Theft from the person – 27 reports
• Vehicle crime – 176 reports
• Other crime – 65 reports

The number of reports has dropped by 80 compared to January to November 2022, which saw 3,711 reports.

Violence and sexual offences were also the most-reported crimes during that period too.

Inspector Charlotte Ellam, district commander for Newark and Sherwood, said: “Everything we do as a policing team is centred on keeping people safe and ensuring anyone who jeopardises that is identified and brought before the courts.

“We do a huge amount of work to tackle different types of crime — including violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour, which have both been policing priorities for us over the last 12 months.

“Crime prevention is a key part of this work, with our officers carrying out regular patrols of Newark town centre and other hotspot areas to help deter criminality by providing a visible presence on the streets.

“We’ve also teamed up with our local partners for a number of important projects, including Safer Streets, which has resulted in improvements being made to help tackle violence and improve our communities as places to live, work and visit.

“In terms of combating anti-social behaviour, we are now able to respond to reports quicker than before, thanks to an additional base for our officers in the town centre’s market square, and a dedicated anti-social behaviour rapid response car that is always out patrolling our force area.

“The last year has also seen us introduce a dedicated shop theft officer role in Newark, which has led to some really good results in the form of more action being taken against offenders.

“We’re always looking for new ways to tackle crime in our area, and will continue to work closely with our partners, like Newark and Sherwood District Council and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, to see how we can explore these different ideas.”

Elsewhere, the Balderton and Farndon Neighbourhood Policing Team received 1,087 reports between January and November 2023.

The area includes Fernwood and villages along the A46 to Syerston, Alverton and Kilvington.

The most reports (124) were in November and the least (66) in January.

Violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and criminal damage and arson were again the most reported crimes.