There were 2,972 crimes recorded in the Island in 2020, which marked a 12% decrease from 2019. Using the most recent population estimate of 107,800, this represents 27.6 crimes per 1,000 people.
Assistant Home Affairs Minister Lindsay Ash said lockdown ‘must have’ played a part in the drop in crime from 2019 in Jersey, and that it was possible that the rate could go back up. However, he said he did not anticipate a substantial increase.
In comparison, Guernsey’s annual police report for 2020 recorded 2,122 crimes, which equates to an approximate rate of 33.5 crimes per 1,000 – when calculated using the island’s population estimate of 63,385 from the end of December.
And figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that Jersey’s crime rate is nearly half that of North Yorkshire, which was recently hailed by some media outlets as the ‘safest place in England and Wales’. The area had an estimated 49.9 crimes per 1,000 people for 2020, while the national rate stood at 80.8.
Home Affairs Minister Gregory Guida said: ‘We are lucky to live in a safe place and we are working very hard to keep that number down. We are not looking at it and getting complacent – there is no point where the police will say “that’s about enough” – it’s quite the contrary: their work never stops.’
Deputy Ash added: ‘Obviously this is good news. When you look at Guernsey and Jersey, they are generally safe places to live. In an ideal situation you would have no crime, but, in comparison to somewhere like London, it is very safe here.’
He continued: ‘I would hope that it would stay low. My gut feeling is that you would see a slight rise now that people aren’t locked down, but, as I say, the levels here are still relatively low when compared to other jurisdictions.
‘I think that the police – as well as the honorary police and all the other emergency services – did, and are doing, a great job, particularly in dealing with the Covid crisis. I think they responded really well.’
