Chief constables were questioned by local councilors about levels of violent crime in Slough.

There were 12 murders and 63,692 violent crimes in the Berkshire town between October 2023 and September 2024, according to Thames Valley Police statistics.

During the same period, 147,910 “victim-based crimes” were also recorded, covering a wide range of offenses from sexual offenses to theft and criminal damage.

Labor councilor Fiza Matloob asked officers if they had a “specific plan” for Slough and said figures showed it was “one of, if not the most, dangerous towns” in the borough.

Each year senior police officers submit a report on their policing activities to local authorities and it is reviewed by councillors.

Mr Matloob praised the “fantastic job” done by officers and added that “you are hugely respected in Slough”.

But residents’ “attitudes change” when they are exposed to a violent crime, he said.

“He said: “Slough comes off really bad for violent crime; Based on crime rate, this is one of, if not the, most dangerous town in Berkshire.

“Is there a specific plan to focus on this area, what are the criteria for allocating resources?”

Berkshire East’s local command unit commander, Steve Raffield, said the force was trying to take a “smart approach” to understanding where violent crime hotspots were and trying to direct officers to those areas at times when they would have the “most impact”.

He said officers use a “hot spot” policing app to identify where their presence is needed.

Chief Constable Jason Hogg said Slough and Milton Keynes had the highest workload for officers in the force.

He said: “If there is a particularly high demand in Slough, we may be able to place more officers in Slough.”

Mr Hogg said officers were more “agile” than before and could be brought into an area quickly to deal with a problem, then moved out again once the situation had been resolved.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police told the BBC: “Tackling violent and knife crime remains (the force’s) priority.”

They said police have been operating Operation Deterrence, a zero-tolerance approach to tackling knife crime, since 2022.

This results in harsher consequences and shortens the time between crime, charge and trial, officials added.