Does Southampton have a sex offender problem?

[pap]

Despite being an exile, I still keep tabs on what's going on in Southampton, mostly through reading the Echo, but also through conversations with friends and family. Over the course of the last year, I've noticed an increase in the number of sexual offences that occur in the city. People are being assaulted or raped in the central parks, while we've recently seen a school teacher convicted for possessing child and animal pornographic material.

 

I've checked the Police stats site, and this suspicion seems to be somewhat validated. Southampton is not only top in Hampshire for violence and sexual offences, but also is the worst amongst what the OB considers similar places.

 

There's a slight caveat in that violence is bundled into that category, which is why I ask the question. Does Southampton have a sex offender problem?

 

http://www.police.uk/hampshire/1SW01/performance/compare-your-area/violent-crime/#force_comparison

[Manuel]

I understand nearby Albany prison houses mainly sex offenders, although you'd hope once released that close tabs would be kept on them.

[pap]

I doubt that the the authorities are keeping close tabs, at least not anywhere near like the level you'd be hoping for. Budgets, priorities - it all comes into play and we're living in an era where cuts are placing huge strain on operational effectiveness.

 

The Echo is reporting an assault tonight at the Co-op in Thornhill.

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11775104.Sex_attack_at_Co_op_store_in_Southampton/

 

Don't think the parks in the middle of town help the situation. It's close to an area where a lot of people are going to be getting smashed and making poor decisions. They also provide a lot of cover for any would-be attacker.

[buctootim]

No. 20 offences per 100,000 population is bang in the middle of the comparable range on a par with Bristol, Leicester and Manchester, lower than Norwich, Hastings and Blackpool. Lame effort.

http://www.police.uk/greater-manchester/A1/performance/compare-your-area/violent-crime/#msg_comparison

Edited 5 February, 2015 by buctootim

[pap]

No. 20 offences per 100,000 population is bang in the middle of the comparable range. Lame effort.

http://www.police.uk/merseyside/E1/performance/compare-your-area/violent-crime/#msg_comparison

 

Don't let your pre-judgement ruin discussion of an important issue. I may not live in the city, but I've got genuine concerns about something starting out as anecdotal, but seems to be backed by both news reports and police statistics. I've got a huge family in Southampton, including a lot of people in their teens and twenties that are frequently go to town to party. This is a concern, and something we've discussed in my Southampton family and the thread is driven out of that concern.

 

Please take your classless whataboutery elsewhere.

[buctootim]

Don't let your pre-judgement ruin discussion of an important issue. I may not live in the city, but I've got genuine concerns about something starting out as anecdotal, but seems to be backed by both news reports and police statistics. I've got a huge family in Southampton, including a lot of people in their teens and twenties that are frequently go to town to party. This is a concern, and something we've discussed in my Southampton family and the thread is driven out of that concern.

 

Please take your classless whataboutery elsewhere.

 

 

Same old sad Pap. Big alarmist statement followed by climbdown when faced with facts. Southampton is bang in the middle of the rates for similar places. Not high not low. Sorry if that ****es on your latest bonfire.

[trousers]

Same old sad Pap. Big alarmist statement followed by climbdown when faced with facts. Southampton is bang in the middle of the rates for similar places. Not high not low. Sorry if that ****es on your latest bonfire.

Yeah, but dontcha know that coming up with comparative examples is known as "whataboutery" in social meeja land?

[buctootim]

Yeah, but dontcha know that coming up with comparative examples is known as "whataboutery" in social meeja land?

 

Good job you and I don't live there then

[CB Fry]

Does Saintsweb have a whataboutery problem?

 

Well, statistical comparison to 100 other Web forums puts our forum slap bang in the middle and comparable to lots of other similar sized forums.

 

But I've decided the answer is yes, so the answer is yes. Stop being classless by ruining that position.

[pap]

Same old sad Pap. Big alarmist statement followed by climbdown when faced with facts. Southampton is bang in the middle of the rates for similar places. Not high not low. Sorry if that ****es on your latest bonfire.

You've misread my intent, and misrepresented the initial link. It's still there. Within Hampshire, Southampton is top. Within places the OB considers comparable, Southampton is top. Huge caveat inserted about the breakdown of the category (we don't know what the split is, or how it intersects), so I really don't know what your problem is, save residual hostility.

[Saint in Paradise]

Shame that some personal animosities have taken over the discussion of a serious question.

I wonder if this would have been the case if someone like, say, Steve Grant had started the

thread?

[Jonnyboy]

Bearsy doesn't live in Southampton anymore. Although... does the offending spike on weekends in the area of the Farmhouse pub?

[Dr Who?]

I have noticed that the sexual crimes have been popping up more and more, on the Echo website. Also I had noticed that it seems to be mostly the parks in the city centre. I seem to remember this always being the case when living in Southampton.

 

Also I would add that it does seem a problem, when you compare it to a City that is twice the size of Southampton, in Sheffield, which has half of the 'reported' sexual crimes per 1,000 reported. I find this quite staggering.

[suewhistle]

Oh come on Pap. I looked at your link and then at Buctootim's and I really don't think

Don't let your pre-judgement ruin discussion of an important issue.

is an appropriate response. As you say, your attitude is impacted by your family ties there, and the responding quote is a reasonable way of replying, in my opinion.

 

If you look at the Hampshire figures, they pretty well follow the size of population, and would be as one might expect given the fact Southampton is a reasonably large port with all that sometimes implies. It depends where you are, but I've never felt particularly threatened in Soton, but then I'm tall, older, reasonably fit and walk fast (even when not usually sober after a match).

[Hatch]

It's the Eastern Europeans innit, I read it in the Daily Mail.

 

They also eat your pets.

[suewhistle]

.. and they poach carp from your local fishery...

[The Cat]

There's a disgusting number of sexual crimes committed every day. I get to see some stats at work and am continually surprised by the amount of them. Whether the frequency exclusive to this region or not I couldn't say but there are some truly nasty, scummy blokes out there.

 

One thing to take into account is that different forces are better than others in recording certain types of crime. I believe Hampshire are very good in this area which could explain any discrepancy in stats compared to other places.

[pap]

Oh come on Pap. I looked at your link and then at Buctootim's and I really don't think is an appropriate response. As you say, your attitude is impacted by your family ties there, and the responding quote is a reasonable way of replying, in my opinion.

 

If you look at the Hampshire figures, they pretty well follow the size of population, and would be as one might expect given the fact Southampton is a reasonably large port with all that sometimes implies. It depends where you are, but I've never felt particularly threatened in Soton, but then I'm tall, older, reasonably fit and walk fast (even when not usually sober after a match).

 

I think it's an appropriate when said poster says "lame attempt" immediately afterward, and feel I've been more than measured in my replies despite having licence to fire back in a name-calling contest.

 

The title of this thread was a question, not a statement, intended to gather opinions to get a better handle on the situation. I have no firm view, and would happy to learn that Southampton doesn't have a sex offender problem, on account of all the cousins, nieces and nephews that'll be hitting town now or in the near future.

 

My daughter went to London for Uni this year, a city that has experienced a significant rise in sexual assault, especially within the student community. We spoke about the risks and the ways to mitigate them maturely and without prejudice, using the facts at our disposal. That's all I'm seeking to achieve here.

[Hockey_saint]

Despite being an exile, I still keep tabs on what's going on in Southampton, mostly through reading the Echo, but also through conversations with friends and family. Over the course of the last year, I've noticed an increase in the number of sexual offences that occur in the city. People are being assaulted or raped in the central parks, while we've recently seen a school teacher convicted for possessing child and animal pornographic material.

 

I've checked the Police stats site, and this suspicion seems to be somewhat validated. Southampton is not only top in Hampshire for violence and sexual offences, but also is the worst amongst what the OB considers similar places.

 

There's a slight caveat in that violence is bundled into that category, which is why I ask the question. Does Southampton have a sex offender problem?

 

http://www.police.uk/hampshire/1SW01/performance/compare-your-area/violent-crime/#force_comparison

 

Pap; I don't know the figures but don't most of these crimes happen in the home and are usually committed by people the victim knows and often goes unreported? So, theoretically at least, we'll never truly know what goes on in any town?

[pap]

Pap; I don't know the figures but don't most of these crimes happen in the home and are usually committed by people the victim knows and often goes unreported? So, theoretically at least, we'll never truly know what goes on in any town?

 

The thread is operating on reported cases, so while your point about those being the tip of the iceberg has merit, it hasn't been the focus so far. What has alarmed me as an external observer is the amount of stuff that is happening out and about.

[The Cat]

The thread is operating on reported cases, so while your point about those being the tip of the iceberg has merit, it hasn't been the focus so far. What has alarmed me as an external observer is the amount of stuff that is happening out and about.

 

Which is why my point about Hampshire being better about recording sexual offences than other forces is important.

[shurlock]

Which is why my point about Hampshire being better about recording sexual offences than other forces is important.

 

What drives recording levels? And why is Hampshire strong in this regard?

[Saint86]

Despite being an exile, I still keep tabs on what's going on in Southampton, mostly through reading the Echo, but also through conversations with friends and family. Over the course of the last year, I've noticed an increase in the number of sexual offences that occur in the city. People are being assaulted or raped in the central parks, while we've recently seen a school teacher convicted for possessing child and animal pornographic material.

 

I've checked the Police stats site, and this suspicion seems to be somewhat validated. Southampton is not only top in Hampshire for violence and sexual offences, but also is the worst amongst what the OB considers similar places.

 

There's a slight caveat in that violence is bundled into that category, which is why I ask the question. Does Southampton have a sex offender problem?

 

http://www.police.uk/hampshire/1SW01/performance/compare-your-area/violent-crime/#force_comparison

 

Went to The University in Southampton and lived in Bedford place for a few years, later in Highfield.

 

It was fairly common to hear of drunk student girls getting attacked in the central parks and the common (although the latter was less common). There were also the odd terrible takes such as the poor lady who was raped and walked to the motorway before jumping to her death from one of the overbridges.

 

The simple truth is, Southampton has a lot of students for the size of the city, a big arse drinking culture, and also a few dodgy areas around the centre. Not hard to work out what that leads to. Assaults, muggings etc etc, i heard of plenty of students who fell foul of this around the city.

 

You also have large & poor immigrant populations in certain areas of the city, god knows if that has an effect but its generally not hard to link some areas like that with higher crime rates in this country lets be honest.

 

All in all, there are far worse cities to live and I do like Southampton. But genuinely I feel more unsafe walking around Southampton than I would do in Bristol. Portsmouth and Bournemouth are far worse again in my opinion. And that has nothing to do with footballing bias, it seems to be a genuine problem in the central southern areas. Reading has a pretty bad gang and assault reputation.

 

Probably simpler just to describe the country as overcrowded with a failing social structure and generally rather dodge everywhere urban that isn't mostly young professionals

[KingdomCome]

I think it's an appropriate when said poster says "lame attempt" immediately afterward, and feel I've been more than measured in my replies despite having licence to fire back in a name-calling contest.

 

The title of this thread was a question, not a statement, intended to gather opinions to get a better handle on the situation. I have no firm view, and would happy to learn that Southampton doesn't have a sex offender problem, on account of all the cousins, nieces and nephews that'll be hitting town now or in the near future.

 

My daughter went to London for Uni this year, a city that has experienced a significant rise in sexual assault, especially within the student community. We spoke about the risks and the ways to mitigate them maturely and without prejudice, using the facts at our disposal. That's all I'm seeking to achieve here.

 

Well, I hope you provided her details to the constabulary. It may just be correlative, but this link needs investigating.

[pap]

Well, I hope you provided her details to the constabulary. It may just be correlative, but this link needs investigating.

 

Not really. Was talking about the rise in that kind of activity in the year leading up to her going, but you knew that.

 

You feel better for having your little talk?

[The Cat]

What drives recording levels? And why is Hampshire strong in this regard?

 

Well trained officers, the resources available to the department. Hampshire also have a specialist interview team supported by the National Crime Agency.

[benjii]

I've definitely been bummed more lately.

 

Bloody sex cases.

[Dr Who?]

Ok not a sexual attack, but when living at Cranbury Avenue, my mum was attacked in the car park which is now a hotel in the middle of the roundabout. She was attacked and mugged at 5 O'clock in the evening on her way back from a shift in Asda. This was around 1991/92 and she thought something worse was going to happen, until thankfully a passer by shouted out.

 

I never got to meet the man who came to her rescue, but thank goodness he did. My mum never returned to work after that and has not worked since. She is 70 now, but that had a huge impact on my mum and my dad at that time.