EVER wondered what crimes were being committed near you, or how safe your area really is?

We have put together an interactive map of every single crime in Oxford during April, street by street.

Using data from Police.Uk we can reveal that 871 crimes in the Oxford areas were reported to Thames Valley Police during the first month of coronavirus lockdown.

See below for the map.

TVP publishes its figures every month and the data shows what the crime is, where it was reported and what stage of the investigation it is in.  

Oxford is divvied up into seven main wards, these are: Oxford central, Barton and Risinghurst, Cowley, East Oxford (which covers Iffley Road), North Oxford (which covers Summertown, Cuttselowe, and Wolvercote) and South East Oxford (which covers Blackbird Leys, Iffley, and Littlemore).

The map: 

click on the pinpoint for more information on the crime. The pinpoints have been colour coded into crime types. 

What type of crimes were reported in Oxford?

Violent crimes and sexual assaults were the most reported to police – but in a story last week the force said that there had been more reports of online grooming, particularly with children stuck at home on their gadgets during lockdown.

Police said that there had been a major decline in the number of reports of rapes and attacks on strangers because bars and clubs have closed for business.

  • Anti-social behaviour – 150
  • Bike theft – 42
  • Burglary – 44
  • Criminal damage and arson – 67
  • Drugs – 55
  • Other crime – 9
  • Other theft – 56
  • Possession of weapons – 11
  • Public order – 59
  • Robbery – 3
  • Shoplifting – 33
  • Theft from a person – 4
  • Vehicle crime – 64
  • Violence and sexual offences – 273

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What are the police doing about crime?

In Oxford Central there are three main police priorities:

  • Drugs in the city
  • Anti-social behaviour
  • Alcohol and homelessness

Oxford Mail:

To ease the worries the force said it is working to make Oxford a ‘difficult’ environment for drug dealers and safer place for vulnerable people who might be more susceptible to exploitation and cuckooing – where drug dealers can take over somebody’s house to use a base for county lines and drug trafficking.

TVP also have dedicated officers on patrol working with drug users and street drinkers in the city. It said: “We ensured that their alcohol was disposed of and that they were advised as to sources of support and welfare for their addictions.

“Thought a co-ordinated co-operative approach we have reduced the incidence of street drinking locally.”

What are some of the least reported crimes in the city?

Across the whole city, there were only 43 reports of bike thefts in April – a major reduction compared to April 2019 when in the city centre (Oxford Central zone) alone there were 70 reports.

Crime has also halved in Oxford city centre since lockdown, we revealed in another story last week.

Where were the crimes?

Most of the crimes were reported in residential streets.

But a handful of crimes could be pinpointed to a public location:

  • 36 crimes were reported at or near a supermarket
  • 22 crimes were reported at a shopping centre like the Westgate, Clarendon or Templars Sqaure
  • Another 22 crimes were reported on or near a higher education building – like an Oxford University campus
  • Two crimes were reported at a police station
  • Another two were reported at a train station

Oxford Mail:

What stage of the investigation are most of the crimes at?

  • 222 crimes out of the 871 reported were closed when no suspect was identified
  • 113 crimes were closed because police officers were unable to prosecute a suspect
  • 342 reports were still under investigation

Last year we revealed how the majority of crime in Oxford, around 70 per cent, was closed with no further action.

Police will close an investigation with no further action when: more investigation is not deemed ‘in the public interest’, the investigation is completed because no suspect was found or police were simply unable to prosecute somebody.