Police crime statistics for 2023 presented
District Director Nicole Streitz, Head of the Police Department Mathias Schmidt and Head of the Crime Directorate Benjamin Beutler presented the district police authority's crime figures for 2023 at a press conference on April 3, 2024. The district director noted that "the total number of crimes recorded in the Mühlenkreis in 2023 was almost on a par with the previous year. In fact, the number of registered offenses in 2023 increased slightly by 245 offenses to a total of 15,359 cases. This means an increase of 1.62 percent compared to the previous year. Looking at the longer-term comparison, we are close to the 10-year average, which is 15,088 crimes. We had the highest level of 17,091 crimes in 2014."
Crime rate in the Mühlenkreis district relatively low
In terms of the crime rate for 2023, i.e. the number of registered crimes per 100,000 inhabitants, the District of Minden-Lübbecke is slightly above the previous year's level at 4,861. In comparison with the figures for the Detmold administrative district (5,492) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (7,789) the local figure stands out significantly. "Today, it can be said that in terms of safety - from an objective point of view - life is good in the Mühlenkreis," says Police Director Mathias Schmidt.
Violent crime
This includes homicide, dangerous and serious bodily injury, rape and sexual assault as well as robbery. Assault offenses are the main focus of violent crime. Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 60 cases. This is the second-highest number of offenses in the past 10 years (2021: 797). We are generally observing that the propensity for violence is increasing and the threshold for escalation has become very low. The clearance rate in this area of crime of 79.64% is still considered high.
Street crime
In the past year, 3,551 cases of street crime were registered, which corresponds to a slight decrease of 164 cases. Overall, the number of cases is still below the 10-year average (3,895). While 1,481 offences were recorded in Minden, we registered 665 in Bad Oeynhausen, 369 in Porta Westfalica and 298 in Lübbecke.
Robberies
There was a noticeable decrease of minus 26 offences in the number of robberies (2022 - 172 compared to 2023 - 146). In particular, the number of offenses on streets, roads and squares fell from 82 in 2022 to 28. This is a decrease of 54 cases. Most crimes were recorded in Minden (30), Bad Oeynhausen (9) and Lübbecke (8).
Residential burglaries
In the residential burglary sector, we are at a relatively low level for the third year in a row. However, it should be emphasized that any intrusion into personal living space is a drastic experience for those affected. While the 10-year average is 413 burglaries, 219 offenses were recorded here last year. By comparison, there were still 721 cases in 2015.
Daily burglary
When burglaries are committed between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., they are referred to as daily burglaries (TWE). Unfortunately, we have seen a noticeable increase here. The number increased from 50 offenses in 2022 to 78 cases. However, in 2020 we still registered 123 daytime burglaries.
Shoplifting
In the area of shoplifting, we unfortunately registered a significant increase for the second year in a row. After 949 reported offenses in 2022, 1,340 offenses were registered last year. This figure is also higher than the 10-year comparison, which stands at 1,220 offenses. The highest figure was recorded in 2016 with 1,663 offences.
Clear-up rate
The clear-up rate last year was 58.10%. This is the second-highest figure in the past 10 years (2021: 59.81%). Compared to the figure in 2022 - which was 53.06% - this is a very pleasing increase of 5.04 percentage points. Overall, we are above the average of the last 10 years, which is 54.11%.
Communal comparison of case numbers
The most crimes (6,096) were committed in Minden - as in previous years (2022: 6,224). This was followed at some distance by the towns of Bad Oeynhausen with 2,960 (2,764) and Porta Westfalica with 1,580 (1,588) crimes.
The fewest crimes - each under 400 offenses - were recorded in the municipalities of Rahden with 366 (327), Hille with 337 (308) and Preußisch Oldendorf with 333 (352). The municipality of Hüllhorst brought up the rear in this case with just 244 cases (256).