Crime levels across Dorset have continued to fall during 2025, with reductions in anti-social behaviour and knife crime contributing to the county being ranked among the safest areas nationally.
Anti-social behaviour has seen some of the strongest improvements, with Dorset Police recording an eleven per cent year-on-year reduction, bringing reports to their lowest level in sixteen years, while targeted hotspot policing has reduced incidents by almost seventy per cent in the areas where it operates.
Knife crime offences have also fallen by thirteen per cent this year, placing Dorset as the fourth lowest-ranking county nationally, following a combination of knife amnesties, education programmes and enforcement activity delivered with schools, Trading Standards and community groups.
Action against serious organised crime has continued through intelligence-led operations, including Operation Scorpion, which has led to arrests, the closure of drug lines and the seizure of drugs, weapons, vehicles and cash, alongside coordinated work through the Combatting Drugs Partnership.
Work to protect women and girls has included continued scrutiny of policing responses and support for commissioned services, while rural crime teams have expanded, recovering stolen machinery from the UK and overseas and strengthening engagement across countryside communities.
Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said, “One person carrying a knife is one too many, and I am determined to drive these numbers down even further.”
Residents are being invited to take part in the Dorset Policing Precept Survey for next year, as efforts continue to maintain safety despite Dorset remaining among the lowest-funded police forces in England and Wales.
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