Has crime risen in your area or are local Facebook groups making it look like it is?

[Sallycinnamum]

I live in a reasonable affluent London suburb. We're on the fringes of the city and I've lived here all my life.

I have never been a victim of crime and still quite happily walk home on my own at night.

I belong to several local community Facebook groups, which feature regular posts from people who've had their cars nicked or they'll mention someone was seen acting suspiciously etc etc.

I've always taken it all with a pinch of salt because there are often ridiculous posts from residents who've got too much time on their hands.

Now I'm wondering if I'm being naive and there lots of crime going on around me or has social media just made it more visible?

I was just saying exactly this to DH the other day! I've only quite recently joined our local FB group and reading it sounds like we live in the dodgiest area ever! I would say the area is reasonable, I always feel safe, our actual city is very deprived in general but this is one of the OK areas. But it's constant posts about dodgy guy hanging round, dodgy people knocking on doors like PPs said, gangs of kids hurting pets. Makes me feel a better to know this is a 'thing' and doesn't necessarily mean we now live on crime Central!

but to read my local FB page you would think the crime level was on a par with the mean streets of New York.

London actually overtook New York.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/20/london-now-dangerous-new-york-crime-stats-suggest/

There is knife crime in the next borough to me and it inevitably does filter to where we are and it's terrifying but I see alot of hysterical posts on my local FB group that later turn out to be completely innocent.