New statistics released this morning showed that Thames Valley Police received more than 500,000 contacts from the public, attended 81,000 incidents and made 16,000 arrests over a six-month period in 2023.
As part of its ongoing commitment to inform the public of the work it does, it has released statistics showing its activity from April 1 until September 30.
Over the course of the six-month period, officers made 16,239 arrests relating to a range of different crimes, found 3,290 missing people and sadly attended 711 tragic sudden deaths, supporting families at the most difficult time.
On the roads, officers from its Roads Policing and response teams attended 3,228 road traffic collisions.
A total of 1,007 arrests were made relating to drunk driving, 1,220 for driving whilst distracted by a mobile phone, and 1,862 people were arrested for not wearing a seatbelt.
The detection of distraction offences, such as driving while using a mobile phone, have increased by 78%, while seatbelt offences are up by 72% when compared with the same six-month period of last year.
In terms of speeding, 48,794 offences were detected as speeding by officers, while 38,821 were detected speeding by cameras.
Detection of speeding offences has increased by 91% from the same period last year, while fatal collisions were down slightly on this time last year and down even further on the previous year.
Detective chief inspector Mike Bettington of the Joint Roads Policing Unit said: “These numbers highlight the vast amount of work our roads policing officers carry out across the Thames Valley every day.
“We will continue to work together with partners across a range of agencies to find ways to reduce and prevent offending.
“Everyone should be able to use our roads in a safe and healthy way. We will educate where appropriate to prevent re-offending and explain where there is an opportunity to encourage safer use of our roads.
“We are dedicated to keeping road users safe and will be persistent in dealing with those that commit offences on the road network.”
Thames Valley Police are pleased to support Road Safety Week, which is running until November 25, and focuses on the increased risk of a crash when drivers go over the speed limit.
With regards to action on domestic abuse and violence against women and girls, officers remain completely committed to tackling domestic violence, with 28% of all arrests made, being related to domestic violence.
The April to September period this year saw a 22% increase in charges for rape, and an 11% increase in charges for other sexual offences compared to the same period in 2022.
Chief Constable Jason Hogg said: “In the last six months, we have responded to more than half a million contacts from the public and attended 81,143 incidents, which represents an incredible demand on our 8,400 officers, staff and volunteers.
“I’m very proud of the job we do in keeping our communities safe across the Thames Valley, not only by responding to emergencies but also disrupting and preventing crime across the three counties.
“Increased rape offence charges and domestic abuse arrests show how our proactive work targeting these crime types is showing real progress.
“Behind each of these numbers are the victims of crime, and a priority for the force over the coming year is to place them at the centre of our service and work tirelessly to improve our service to all.”
