FIGURES released by Thames Valley Police have shown that incidents of crime were down by over 40% at this year’s Reading Festival.
Over the four days of the festival, there were 127 incidents, down by 44% from last year.
This in includes 12 thefts, 14 concern in the supply of drug offences, five possession with intent to supply drug offences and five public order incidents.
Compared to last year, reports of sexual assaults decreased from 14 to 13 reports while the number of reported rapes remained the same, at five.
There were four reports of exposure this year, an increase of two.
There were six reported spiking incidents (administering poison with intent), down by 83.8%, from last year.
In total, the force made 34 arrests over the festival weekend – double the number of arrests last year.
It comes after police continued to supplement their work with festival organisers, including using a range of visible security measures to ensure the area around the festival site remained safe.
The included a live facial recognition van, tactical cycles unit, mounted section, marine units, and drone unit.
It also saw the return of our Consent Conversations tent inside the festival, which was aimed at informing young people of the importance of talking about consent in a safe and comfortable environment.
Chief Superintendent Ben Clark said: “Reading Festival brings thousands of people to the town every year and our priority is to ensure a safe and secure event for festival goers and residents can go about their daily activities with minimal disruption.
“This weekend demonstrated the strong partnerships that the force has with the event organisers and other services. This means we were able to respond to incidents quickly, support those who needed us and take decisive action when offences occurred.
“Over the festival, our teams worked proactively with Safer Spaces to support anyone who came forward with reports of sexual violence. This partnership was vital to providing a safe space and specialist support for victims, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive on how important this resource was to create an environment where individuals were comfortable coming forward with reports.
“I want to acknowledge the courage of those who did speak up and that we treat every report with care and sensitivity.
“I would also like to thank all of those involved in the planning, preparation and delivery of the festival, as well as our officers and staff who policed the event to keep the public safe.”
