Ottery St Mary Crime Rate March 2023 | Monthly Statistics

Ottery St Mary’s crime rate in March 2023 was 2.6 per 1,000 residents, placing it 65.8% below the UK average of 7.6 per 1,000. This stark contrast highlights the area’s relative safety compared to the national picture. The most common crimes were violence and sexual offences, which accounted for 56.3% of all reports, followed by anti-social behaviour (12.5%). These figures suggest a pattern where interpersonal conflicts and disorder dominate over property-related crimes, a trend consistent with smaller, close-knit communities where social dynamics may amplify such incidents. The UK average for violence and sexual offences is 2.7 per 1,000, meaning Ottery’s rate is 45% below that benchmark, though the local share of violent crime is higher than the UK average. This discrepancy could reflect the area’s character as a rural built-up area within East Devon, where community ties may increase visibility of certain crimes while reducing opportunities for more隐蔽 activities like burglary. March, with its transition to spring and lengthening evenings, may have influenced the timing of incidents. The low overall crime rate, combined with the dominance of violent offences, illustrates a community where localised tensions and social interactions play a significant role in shaping the crime profile.

The breakdown of crimes in March 2023 reveals a stark contrast between Ottery St Mary and the UK average in several categories. Violence and sexual offences, at 1.5 per 1,000 residents, are 45% below the UK average of 2.7 per 1,000, yet they make up 56.3% of all reported crimes in the area—a higher proportion than the UK average. Anti-social behaviour, at 0.3 per 1,000, is 71% below the UK average of 1.0 per 1,000, suggesting that while such incidents are rare locally, they remain a concern when they do occur. Burglary and criminal damage are both significantly below the UK average, with burglary at 0.2 per 1,000 (39% below) and criminal damage at 0.2 per 1,000 (67% below), likely reflecting the area’s low population density and strong community presence. However, the 'Other crime' category, at 0.2 per 1,000, is 33% above the UK average of 0.1 per 1,000, indicating a potential gap in local data collection or a unique local issue requiring further attention. For residents, the most notable insight is the dominance of violence and sexual offences, which may partly explain the area’s higher proportion of violent crime compared to the UK average, despite the overall low rate.

In March 2023, Ottery St Mary recorded 16 total crimes over 31 days, equating to roughly 1 crime per day—a figure that, while low, provides a tangible snapshot of local activity. Monthly exposure calculations show that over the course of the month, one reported crime occurred for every 380 residents, a statistic that underscores the rarity of incidents in this area. When scaled to the population of 6,077, this means that the likelihood of experiencing a crime is far lower than in the UK average, where the rate is 7.6 per 1,000. The daily crime count of 1 per day in Ottery St Mary is a local benchmark that residents can use to contextualise their safety, though no equivalent UK-wide daily figure is available. The population-scaled perspective also highlights the area’s unique position: for every 1,000 residents, only 2.6 crimes occur, compared to 7.6 nationally. This disparity may be attributed to Ottery St Mary’s status as a built-up area within East Devon, where rural characteristics and community cohesion likely contribute to lower crime rates. While direct causal links, the combination of low population density and strong local networks may serve as a buffer against more pervasive crime trends observed in larger urban centres.