Stealing in the NI countryside has close to HALVED in a decade, says report

According to statistics contained in yesterday’s ‘Key Rural Issues’ report from the Stormont’s agriculture department, theft-based crimes in rural areas have plummeted in the last 10 years.
Number of theft, robbery, burglary crimes in rural versus urban areasNumber of theft, robbery, burglary crimes in rural versus urban areas
Number of theft, robbery, burglary crimes in rural versus urban areas

Whilst there has also been a reduction in such crimes in towns and cities, the fall has not been nearly as dramatic.

The report has been compiled from a number of data sources by the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs.

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It shows that in 2010/11 there were almost 30,600 thefts, robberies, and burglaries in urban areas.

By 2019/20, this had fallen to just under 24,500.

But in rural areas, the drop was much sharper – in 2010/11, there were just over 9,200 such crimes in the countryside.

And by 2019/20 this had plunged to 5,300 – a drop of about 42%.

The report also states that urban residents are more than twice as likely to experience acts of vandalism compared to rural ones,

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They are also over three times more likely to experience domestic burglary – and more than five times as likely to experience violent crime.

In all, 19% of all police-recorded offences occurred in rural areas.

READ MORE STORIES ON OTHER TOPICS FROM THIS REPORTER:

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