British Transport Police statistics for offences carried out at Acton and Hammersmith main line and underground stations in the year up to August 2004 show that public order is the most frequently reported crime in the area. The huge number of public order offences has doubled in that time, making up 23% of all offences in these stations over the period described in 2004.

Overall the number of criminal offences recorded for these stations has risen 34% from 247 to 331. As usual, however, looking at overall figures hides more interesting trends within particular stations.

January - August 2003 compared to the same period 2004 (courtesy of British Transport Police)

 

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The biggest area for concern must be the large increase at Acton Town, particularly violence against the person, public order and an unusually high level of fraud. These are the sort of crimes which are intimidating to us as travellers, and make using the station a more threatening experience, The increase in crimes at North Acton however, are mainly line of route vandalism and public order and less directed at the individual.

There is a high level of violence against the person at Hammersmith, but at least there were significantly fewer attacks in 2004 (from 30 down to 19). There is also a surprisingly low level of drug offences, with most concentrated around Hammersmith.

Overall, thefts of passenger property and criminal damage are down, with public order and fraud being on the increase.

There are some pleasing results: there is a low level of crime, which is also reducing, at certain stations, i.e. Acton Main Line, Acton Central, South Acton, and West Acton, with most of the crimes here being against property.