Assault Most Reported Offence To Police

Assault, theft and sex offences top the list of most prevalent crimes recorded by Guernsey Police.

The 2022 annual Law Enforcement Report provides a insight into the sort of crimes police have to deal with and the resources they use to keep the Bailiwick safe.

Mental health and domestic violence continue to take up a lot of front line policing time. But Chief Officer Ruary Hardy says officers are fortunate that they rarely encounter serious crime:

"We are absolutely blessed that we don't have the same level of homicides, knife crime, county lines, all the things we see in UK forces. And one of the reasons is we have a very good reputation of dealing with the lower level criminality, preventing things escalating into those higher levels of offending."

Guernsey Police have struggled to attract staff over recent years and a recruitment drive is underway. The 2022 report shows numbers have improved and there are 140 officers, an increase of nine on the previous year. Of those, 100 are male and 40 female. In contrast, the Border Agency gender split is even, with 29 female and 28 male officers.

Police social media channels regularly warn islanders about scams and this has been going on for years. Ruari Hardy says they've recruited an officer to warn about cyber security in the schools.

"We're trying to invest in the young people in our community around the risks around cyber, and where they can fall foul."

Guernsey Police will get a comprehensive IT upgrade over the coming months. Ruari Hardy says both Police and Border staff will get new laptops and phones, and this will enable them to work more effectively:

"The connectivity, and the amount of work that can be achieved remotely, and far better, will hopefully greater enhance our productivity and the ability of officers to work remotely, and not have to return to Police HQ to access and update certain systems."

The Chief Officer admits that the recent court case of a young officer being found guilty of perverting the course of justice has negatively impacted on the image and reputation of his force:

"We do understand that it has an impact on the perception the public may have. It is now down to us to rebuild that trust, that we are here for the public and to keep the community safe and secure."

But he paid tribute to the way Police have worked, and hinted on hopes for change:

"I just want to recognise the work that's gone on in 2022. The professionalism and dedication of staff in areas that require a huge amount of patience and compassion, like mental health. We still spend a lot of time dealing with people experiencing crisis mental health, and that's one of the areas I do hope we can make progress with health services, so there can be far more health intervention, rather than criminal justice intervention."