Sevenoaks crime down 3.1%, district police commander says

Crime across the Sevenoaks district has fallen by 3.1%, the district’s police commander has told councillors, while officers charged 40% more of the people they interviewed than they did a year earlier.

Chief Inspector Paul Diddams gave the update to Sevenoaks District Council’s People and Places Advisory Committee on 10 September. The council published the minutes of that meeting on Friday 18 September. (Sevenoaks District Council, People & Places Advisory Committee minutes, 10 September 2026)

CI Diddams has been in the post six months, having transferred from Kent Police’s North Division.

The figures he gave

The minutes record three numbers:

• crime across the district down 3.1%
• 30% more interviews conducted than in the previous year
• 40% more of those interviewed charged than in the previous year

One caveat worth stating plainly. The minutes do not define the period those comparisons cover. They say only that the charging and interview figures are set against “the previous year” and that the 3.1% fall is “for the same period”. His anti-social behaviour summary covered the previous six months. (Committee minutes, item 20)

Anti-social behaviour, and where it has eased

Swanley Park and Edenbridge both saw lower than usual levels of offences over the six months, the committee was told, especially involving catapults.

In town centres, and particularly in Swanley, officers have used the full range of powers available to them: prevention orders, community protection warnings and community behaviour orders. (Committee minutes, item 20)

Officers have also been given new powers to seize e-scooters immediately, without having to issue a warning first.

What happens next in the district

CI Diddams set out what the force expects and what it is putting resources into:

• Rural crime rises in autumn, especially poaching and burglary. Neighbourhood Task Forces will pay particular attention to reports of suspicious vehicles, working alongside the Rural Task Force.
• Extra resources go to Neighbourhood Patrol Teams between Halloween and Christmas, because of the number of public events in that period.
• A vehicle theft investigation is running in Westerham, with the team working with the Community Speed Watch organisation to locate vehicles.
• Response times in Edenbridge have fallen to an average of 22 minutes for 999 calls, and the Task Force wants to put more resources there to improve that further.
• A new sergeant has been allocated to the Neighbourhood Task Force team.

On violence against women and girls, the force is looking to work in partnership with British Transport Police at train stations, visits schools to discuss the issue, and has widened its strategy to include Protection Against Stalking. (Committee minutes, item 20)

The Local Plan question

Members also asked about policing for the growth set out in the district’s Local Plan. CI Diddams told them there had been no confirmation of any proposed increase in resources at the time of the meeting.

That matters. The draft plan’s largest allocation alone is around 1,500 homes between Dunton Green station and Otford Road. The Regulation 19 consultation on the whole plan closed the day before these minutes were published. We covered the 1,500-home development brief and the final week to comment.

How residents are meant to report things

The force is pushing the My Community Voice app, which it uses to take reports of offences and to tell communities what the policing priorities are for their area. Fifty residents signed up after an engagement event at Brands Hatch.

CI Diddams told the committee that priorities are set around the issues residents actually report, and that communities are encouraged to help set their own. He said the app matters most in rural areas, where beats are less visible and so less likely to deter crime in the first place.

What it means for you

If you live in one of the district’s villages, the practical message from the update is that reporting suspicious vehicles over the next few months is what the task forces are being pointed at. If you live in Swanley or Edenbridge, the figures the force gave are moving the right way.

You do not have to take a committee summary on trust. The street-level record is open. You can check exactly what was reported on your own road, month by month, on our Sevenoaks crime data page. It is built from the police.uk open data, not from any council report.

Members thanked the Chief Inspector for the update and praised their local officers. The committee resolved that the report be noted. The next People and Places Advisory Committee papers appear on the council’s committee pages.

Sources

• Sevenoaks District Council, People & Places Advisory Committee, printed minutes, 10 September 2026 (published 18 September 2026)
• Sevenoaks District Council, cover report, Chief Insp Paul Diddams, Kent Police, People & Places Advisory Committee, 10 September 2026
• Sevenoaks District Council, People & Places Advisory Committee, 10 September 2026, all papers

Image: Entrance into pedestrianised part of Swanley town centre by Bikeboy, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.