England went into lockdown this April, changing many aspects of our lives- it begs the question, has criminal activity also changed in your local area?

As everyone has been staying inside you would expect crime levels to go down- but crime levels in Warrington have actually increased.  

Using information from a police database, we compared crime rates in April 2019 to data from April 2020 to see how much it has changed in the town.

This is what the data uncovered.

There was a total of 1926 reported crimes in April 2020, compared to 1754 crimes in April 2019- this suggests crimes have risen by over 9% during lockdown.

Anti-social behaviour was the most reported crime in April 2020 as there were 880 reported incidents. This is 506 more than in April 2019.

While criminal damage and arson offences were lower this April, the figures were still some of the highest- 102 incidents took place in April 2020, 27 less than April 2019.

Violent and sexual offences were also high in 2020- 523 incidents were reported this April, compared to 538 in April 2019.

Despite the mania around supermarkets at the start of lockdown incidents of shoplifting were lower in 2020 (44) than in 2019 (86).

Where did these crimes take place?

The Warrington street with the highest crime rates in April 2020 was St Elphin's Close with 15 incidents reported. This is an increase of 6 on the April before.

The area with the most crime reports in 2019 was Friars Gate in the town centre with 21 reported incidents.

Other places with high crime rates in 2020 include Orchard Street (13), Hallfields Road (13) and Woodvale Close (11).