Imperial Apartments Police called to ex-office block every other day
POLICE were called to a former office block in South Bristol nearly every other day during the past two years.
Figures released by Avon and Somerset Police via a Freedom of Information request show that officers were called to Imperial Apartments in Hengrove 189 times in 2022 and 164 times in 2023 – a total of 353.
This means that, on average, police attended Imperial Apartments – which is primarily used by Bristol City Council – nearly every other day.
The police data also shows officers recorded a crime every time they attended last year (164), with a similar picture for 2022 (183 crimes recorded). In 2023, the most common crime type recorded at Imperial Apartments was “violence against the person”, with 86 such crimes being recorded by officers.
“Violence against the person” includes a range of crimes from relatively minor offences such as harassment and common assault, to serious offences such as murder, actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm, explains the Crown Prosecution Service.
Avon and Somerset Police said it was not able to break down the data further for risk of identification.
The second most common offence type was public order ones (31), followed by theft (18). Officers recorded eight arsons and criminal damage, five sexual offences, four burglaries, two drug offences and one robbery, among others.
Looking at the data for 2022, “violence against the person” offences were also the most common (97), followed again by public order (28), theft (23), vehicle offences (13) and sexual offences (9).
Over the past couple of years, the Post has reported on many concerns from residents at Imperial Apartments, who have shared their worries about antisocial behaviour and living conditions there.
In 2022, the council carried out a review into the former Parkview office complex in Hengrove and found that, while the site is ‘suitable for many families with children,’ it admitted the situation required further improvement.
There are 465 units of private rented accommodation at Imperial Apartments and the council rents out 316 of them, more than twothirds of the total.
Acting Inspector Terry Murphy said: “The nature of the housing accommodation at Imperial Apartments means it is a densely populated area.
“Logically the more people you have in one particular area, the more often you can expect issues to arise, both criminal and non-criminal. Our neighbourhood officers regularly patrol areas around Imperial Apartments to firstly act as a deterrent to anyone who is seeking to commit a crime, but equally importantly provide reassurance to the community and develop positive relationships with residents.
“That community connection is vital for us, because it means we get to know people on an individual basis and build trust with them to understand any issues that may otherwise go unreported.
“The feedback we have generally been receiving recently has been positive about crime and public safety and the statistics showing year-on-year reduction in recorded crime is a good indicator of that.
“We won’t be complacent and we will continue to work closely with our antisocial behaviour team and partner agencies when issues arise to help protect the public because nobody should ever feel unsafe in their own home.
“We’d always encourage anyone who has concerns to speak to those officers and PCSOs on patrol or contact the local neighbourhood team via 101.”
Caridon and the council were approached for comment.