PUBLIC perception of crime is often far from the recorded reality, however police in Wiltshire are trying to buck this trend.

Getting Wiltshire Police’s crime recording closer to the public’s perception of crime is high on the agenda for Angus Macpherson, the county’s police and crime commissioner (PCC).

Police forces around the country have seen their numbers of recorded crimes rise as they put more of an emphasis on better crime recording practices.

Wiltshire Police is no exception to this and last month announced it was expecting Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, which will be published later in July, to show an increase in recorded crime.

However, the PCC has been quick in seeking to reassure the public that the area is no less of a safe place to live.

He said: “It’s not creating crime, the crime was there, it’s just we’ve managed to develop systems and an ethos around things in the past that means things haven’t been recorded correctly.

“Effectively, I would be reassured that the public are saying ‘there are ten crimes in this area’ and the police say ‘yes, the public have reported ten and we’ve recorded ten.’ That to me is where we’re aiming.”

The PCC and Wiltshire Police are currently running a campaign to raise public awareness of how crime is recorded.

The #DidYouKnow campaign was launched last month and will continue until July 20, when the ONS publishes its next crime and justice figures.

For more information visit wiltshire.police.uk