Crime statistics 2023

PKS2023
Crime statistics 2023
On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, Polizeipräsident Thomas Kubera and Kriminaloberrätin Mareike Mentrup presented the police crime statistics for 2023 at a press conference.

All facts and figures - including those from previous years - can be downloaded from this page

We have summarized the most interesting facts for you:

 

Development of total crime and clearance rate

The Hamm police recorded a total of 18,853 crimes last year. This is an increase of 13.92 percent compared to the previous year. The overall crime clearance rate is 58.22 percent. This represents an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the previous year. This is the highest clearance rate in over twenty years.

 

Theft crimes

Theft saw an increase of 16.13 percent (1,081 cases more than in the previous year). This is the highest level and also the biggest increase in ten years. The most significant increase was in shoplifting (up 643 cases or 40.85% compared to the previous year).

 

Street crime

The "street crime" crime group covers various offense areas, the common feature of which is the commission of crimes in public.

The number of cases in the area of street crime increased slightly by 185 (4.55%) to 4,254 crimes compared to the previous year. This means that the majority of crimes in Hamm do not take place in public. Theft and damage to property account for over 90 percent of this offense group.

 

Domestic burglary (WED)

In the area of WED, there was an increase of 10.45 percent compared to the previous year (28 cases more than in 2022). The trend continues to decline in a ten-year comparison. Almost half of all crimes remained at the attempt stage (47.30 percent).

 

Would you like to read more figures on topics such as violent crime and robbery? You can download the full presentation of the crime statistics on this page.

 

Comparison of incoming and outgoing statistics

When collecting figures, a distinction is made between incoming and outgoing statistics. This is necessary because very different statements can be made depending on the statistics.

 

The incoming statistics show the information that is recorded directly when the report is made. It therefore shows how many offenses have been reported. When looking at these statistics, it is important to know that crimes are also counted here that subsequently turn out not to be such. In other words, the investigations reveal that no crime or a different crime was committed than originally assumed. When a crime is reported, it may turn out differently than the subsequent investigation reveals.

 

A recorded theft can thus turn into a robbery, for example, due to the previously unknown circumstances of the crime. It is therefore an unfiltered image of what is received by the authorities and has the invaluable advantage of enabling the police to react quickly to developing priorities.

 

In contrast, there are the police crime statistics. These are initial statistics, i.e. they record the facts that are then passed on to the judiciary for prosecution. Compared to the initial statistics, the quality of the data here is much higher, as the investigations have been completed accordingly and the offense committed is clearly defined.

 

However, the distortion factor must be taken into account here. If an offense from 2020 is not completed until the following year, it will only be recorded in the PKS for 2021. The initial statistics provide a well-founded picture of crime in a local area. This has the advantage that the police can analyse criminally relevant behaviour in depth in order to deal with the identified focal points in a conceptual and sustainable manner.

 

Both statistics are of irreplaceable value for the daily work of the police. They complement each other in gaining criminally relevant findings in order to make police work as effective and efficient as possible.

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