The Isle of Wight remains one of the safest counties in the country despite an increase in recorded crime, it is claimed.
The Island’s 2021/22 strategic assessment shows there were 185 fewer incidents of anti-social behaviour during the first three quarters of 2022 compared to the same time the previous year.
The report, published by the Isle of Wight Community Safety Partnership (CSP), also reveals a drop in the number of young people entering the justice system as well as a 16.77% fall in youth reoffending since 2019.
While crime rose from 64.5 per 1,000 population in 2020/2021 to 77.9 per 1,000 in the year up to the end of March 2022, the CSP notes the Isle of Wight continues to have the third lowest crime rate among its ‘statistical neighbours’.
It also points to recent YouGov data which shows most Island residents feel safe.
Amanda Gregory, CSP chair, said:
“Almost all comparator areas have seen an increase in recorded crime during 2021/22 — this is likely to be a result of the pandemic artificially supressing crime previously.
“I am pleased that the Island has some of the lowest rates of crime in the country, but there is still much work to be done particularly around ‘violence against the person’ which accounts for almost half of recorded Island crime.
“We are committed to preventing these offences, tackling offenders and ensuring that victims are supported and that crimes are effectively investigated.”
District Commander for the Isle of Wight, Superintendent Rob Mitchell said:
“This data, that reflects recorded crime on the Island until the end of March 2022, has helped my officers over the last year to identify our priorities to keep our communities safe.
“An increase in crime reports was to be expected following the easing of national restrictions during the pandemic as more people visited our communities and some crimes, such as domestic abuse, became more visible following periods of lockdown.
“An increase in reports also highlights a level of increased confidence from victims of crime to report incidents to the police.
“Where appropriate we look to work with our partners to divert youngsters away from this type of behaviour so they can make a positive contribution to society.”
The CSP consists of several organisations working together to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and ensure people feel safe.
The partnership produces an annual strategic assessment to provide a summary of data and analysis on crime and anti-social behaviour, to highlight significant community safety issues and enable identification of priorities for the CSP.
It is important for partners to understand the levels and patterns of crime and disorder on the Isle of Wight, to enable them to ensure the right priorities are identified and to target resources effectively.
The 2021/22 strategic assessment is due to go before the Isle of Wight Council’s corporate scrutiny committee on Tuesday 9th May.






















































































I was chatting to Rob and Donna about these results the other day. They’re both very pleased and are looking at dates to come and visit us soon to see for themselves.
Confident to report – have you tried 101 ? ,No good recording crime we need results in catching and conviction and for Courts to give meaningful punishments and persistent offenders to get – prison or secure unit.
More overners? More crime!
Overners? Do you read the articles that are published? More crime is committed on this island by island born residents if you do your homework
Resident: (noun) ‘a person who abides somewhere on a permanent basis, but not necessarily indigenous’ oh the irony, you should have spent more time on your english homework it seems?
Do you really mean more crime is committed pro rata by Island born residents as against people who live here, Angel? If so that would be a very very remarkable statistic. May I ask the source of your homework, which is of course a grave slur on all caulkheads.
do you like talking crap
I know the point you’re making but just saying ‘overners’ bring crime isn’t strictly true. It’s the type of overner being brought to the Island by the Council which is the problem.
Personally, I’m more than happy with retirees settling here. People who have worked, bought their own homes and, having reached retirement age, decided to sell up and move to the Island for a bit of peace and quiet are ideal residents. These aren’t people who are driving around drugged up or drunk or having armed police arrive at their doors. These are, generally, people who come here for a quiet life.
On the other hand we have the Council actively building homes and relocating people here who have proved to be a problem where they currently live.
Spot on, I think it would be interesting to know just how many mainlanders have been relocated due to having issues in their previous location. Albeit they could have been the victim but some could have been instigators.
This info is probably available from the Council as part of the Freedom of Information Act.
Although not PC to say so, the fact the UK has so much more crime is because of the type of people who now ‘arrive’ on its shores daily.
The fact the Island has a lot lower but still increasing crime will be because we have thus far, less amounts of such settling here, but, as time goes by and more huge social housing covers fields, this will rise.
Same at the very last Bestival on the Island, a large number of more recent newcomers to the UK were very apparent and crime was far far worse than all the other years.
It is not P.C but neither is it ‘coincidence’ imo and most other peoples just that those who ‘matter’ cannot say such now, yet that does not ‘alter’ the fact
Funny how these racist posts appear already pre-loaded with 20+ upvotes, isn’t it?
wonkydonk
To what are you alluding?
Can’t you realise that the silent majority are fed up with how our country, national health, social security and lack of housing is being abused?
Even if you were correct in the echo preloading posts, which they obviously would never risk doing, it would not explain the other thirty thumbs up.
Accept that right minded folk, looking out for their loved ones realise that the wealth, land, homes and care, can only stretch so far, and that it is all, as we see at breaking point NOW, without those who never paid in adding to the burden.
Can’t you realise that you are not the silent majority, just a loud, and very obnoxious, minority.
The votes on Island Echo are clearly rigged.
Even funnier that deniers of the truth get 20 downvotes without any “pre loading”
Just like your post, pre-loaded down votes. BOT voting it would seem.
No not pre-loaded just a lot of xenophobic people on the iow who share those views.
You’re right, not pc, just racism. We all know what you mean when you say ‘newcomers’.
Of course everyone knows who ” newcomers ” are and how high crime has risen since they arrived.
From what I have seen when driving round the island
It’s young teenagers who have obviously been born on the Island
causing anti-social behaviour. (Maybe their parents were born on the mainland)
But the children have been schooled on the Island and schools need to teach children
right from wrong if their parents cannot.
Do Police not go into schools anymore!, back in the 60’s when I was at school
on the mainland we all knew our local Bobby and we knew not to do anything
wrong.
You talk like Donald Trump,just make statements that are untrue. Majority arriving on our shores – if they commit offences whilst being processed they are often deported straight away, they are not given housing over UK citizens. Many of these arrivals will get right to stay in UK and they then work hard on getting educated and join our much needed workforce doing the jobs that are essential. Always going to get small minority in whatever culture etc. More crime here is by locally born and bred .
IOW people are just so frightened of difference and stereotype everyone of different culture/race to be bad people.
The maggot talks sense. Just because where such have lots of scattered children, and now many have a buggy full in the family, it is harder for people to openly ‘agree’ that you are right.
The facts that wherever such are in large numbers anywhere on the globe, serious and all other crime soon rises, same with events where such attend enmasse.
That wouldn’t be the case if the same amount of Germans, French or Dutch swelled an area with the same amount of people.
they forgot to ad Ryde Sandown and Newport. drugs are on the up just look at the drug driving
I wonder how much the increase is down to easier reporting compared to previously when it seemed that everything was aimed at making reporting difficult so as to make the figures look better than what they actually were. I doubt that Donna wants to make reporting too easy since that would make the figures look even worse.
But is it safe to be on the road ?
All you need is to listen to the national local news forecasts to realise we are a relatively safe location. Just unfortunate that in some areas on the Island we have “bad pockets” of residents that seem to taint the rest of the Island.
Might not be much crime on the Island but
check how many vehicles are driving around the Island or are clogging
up Island Roads with “NO” Mot.
Depends what you mean by crime.
The DVLA state it’s an offence to drive a vehicke or park a vehicke on a Road with “NO” Mot.
NOT THE CASE ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT
MOT Free Zone
Just look down Great Preston Road there’s an old sh@tty Berlingo with no MOT
parked outside the old council houses
The Law on the Island could not catch a cold.
Send out a few Bobbies on the beat like they did in the good old days and
they would catch many illegal motorists.
Very true Jake.
Motors with No Mot’s are left on Roads taking up parking spaces for paying
Citizens.
It’s about time the useless Council done something about it.
I have seen the Berlingo that is parked along Great Preston Road
My daughter in law cannot always get a space due to the vehicle in question.
Vehicles with no MOT should be removed.
Where’s the Law on the Island
DVLA state vehicles with no MOT could be fined £1,000
What a Load of Rubbish
The Island is a dumping ground for vehicles with no MOT
These figures might be of some use if they were broken down into categories of crime. What types of crime are increasing? Is it violent crime? Drug crime? Sexual offences? Could be fly tipping for all we know. Give us some useful data.
The crime I always see is motoring offences and nothing gets done about it.
Vehicles are driving around with NO MOT and many vehicles are speeding
I was driving towards Rookley yesterday doing 38 in a 40 zone and coming towards me was
a vehicle doing 70+
There is no Law and Order on Island Roads, hence so many accidents taking place on a daily basis.
If I had a pound everytime I saw a motorist driving along looking at their phone instead
of the Road, I would be a millionaire by the end of the year.
Vehicles constantly turn into roads with a no right turn sign
The Island is a joke
Totally lawless
The Island needs Khan to run it.
Roads would all be safe for everyone.
The Island would be full of cycle lanes, 20mph only zones
Camera’s everywhere.
Charge a congestion charge into Newport
The Island would be motoring crime free.
Bliss
General observation re comments, where is the proof that the council receives problem people to house; this old chestnut has been doing the rounds for years with nothing backing it up, so if you say it long and loud enough it becomes true? And the disgusting comments about anyone not born in the UK, or maybe not born on iow, by people who seem to hate overners from UK just as much as “overners” from the “rest of the world”. Just admit you hate everyone “not like you”, god’s chosen?, Remove the plank in thine own eye so that thou can see more clearly to remove the splinter in another’s eye,I hope that it’s just old codgers that come up with these comments and down vote anything humane,you are the past not future, just guilty memory
True, ask anyone trying to get housing here,need be resident 5yrs and with local connection like parents. Council try hard to house own and don’t take from mainland. Maybe Islanders do swop ?. I’d rather have Africans,Polish, Indian, Pakistan etc than some of the good for nothing drug taking benefit cheats of many a town housing estate.
What a crock of yite it’s no safer here than anywhere else in the country too many arrogant narcissists in society that think they can behave and treat people however they want and believe they are untouchable due to the pathetic sentences handed down by the corrupt inept useless judicial system it’s high time it became law that all adolescents are given a psychological evaluation to determine their suitability to be in society and if they fail the evaluation euthanise them prevention is better than cure and police and prosecutors should be able to arrest and prosecute based on any behaviour that implies a possible crime could be commited not have to wait untill a crime is committed once the crime is committed it’s too late
That’s the longest sentence I’ve ever read
Jok wants to prosecute and execute on suspicion of possibly thinking about maybe committing a crime in the future. What a Brave New World that has such people in it!
It is true that troublesome people are relocated out of their area and I suspect we get quite a few here. Anyone despite their race, colour or whatever, overner or born and bred shouldn’t be allowed to behave in that way! We should be safe here it’s the policing and authorities that need to be better at bringing them bang to rights! We don’t need any more people here either don’t care who they are, got enough bad’ns already…
After listening to the news earlier, I assume that the large increase in crime must be due to scamming. This crime is rife and the elderly are particularly susceptible. AI is even being used by scammers to disguise a scammer’s voice to sound like one of your actual relatives. Just do not trust anyone on the phone who asks for bank details.