Good news on falling crime rates across Lincolnshire - including a decline in serious violence and house burglaries.Since April 2006 there have been 581 fewer victims of violence compared to the same period in 2005 - a 12% reduction.
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Davies says it has been a very successful year in terms of crime reduction and detection in 2005/06.
Here's the statement he has released to the press today:
We reported at the end of 2005/06 a reduction in Burglary Dwelling offences of 8.3%, meaning that 228 fewer houses were broken into.
Since April 2006 we have managed to reduce the level even further, with a 7.5% reduction in such offences, equating to 140 less houses broken into (when compared with the same period in 2005).
Having achieved a reduction of 8% in Serious Violent Crime in 2005/06 we have further reduced these offences by 12% since April (compared to the same period in 2005), which means 581 fewer victims of violence.
We are particularly pleased to have achieved significant reductions in offences resulting in physical injury - Homicide and Serious Wounding has reduced by 20.8% and Other Wounding by 14.3%.
As well as reducing Overall Crime (by 1.9% or 819 offences) we have also increased the number of Sanction Detections. Since April we have detected 10803 offences, which equates to 26% of all crime.
We are receiving positive feedback from crime and accident victims in terms of satisfaction with our service, with 79% of all respondents between April and September reporting satisfaction with the overall service provided.
In the latest quarter’s survey, respondents were particularly satisfied with how easy it was to contact us (90.5% satisfied) and the treatment they received from our staff (89.8% satisfied).
Since April we have continued to expand our Neighbourhood Policing program, and the county now has 55 teams working with partners to improve their local neighbourhood.
We recently commissioned a public survey in Lincolnshire and found that 88.7% of people think their local police do a good job. Almost three quarters of respondent said they would feel safer with more Police Community Support Officers patrolling their streets and we are responding to this by increasing the number of officers to 149 by early 2007.
Finally, the excellent work of the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership was recognised nationally earlier this year when they were awarded beacon status, and this good work has continued since April with a 22.1% reduction on the number of persons killed or seriously injured as a result of road traffic collisions (compared with the same period in 2005), this equates to 66 less victims on Lincolnshire’s roads.
2 comments:
Excellent news. I am always pleased when crime falls as it shows that police management are doing their jobs in directing resources as well as the all important reassurance to the community. I am particularly pleased that violence against the person has dropped significantly - I abhor this type of behaviour. I am assuming the licencing laws have also contributed to the fewer victims of violence? The fear of losing a pub licence must surely help? If at all possible, I would like the detection rate to improve a little next year. I read an excellent policemans blog and this article in the press over the holiday period is astonishing. It puts into perspective detection rates?
A journalist misled his parking permit in London - he believed he threw it away when cleaning the interior of his car. The Council would not reissue the permit until a police crime number was obtained.
The journalist had to report the loss to the police even though he knew the permit had not been stolen. It was recorded as a theft and a few months later he had a letter stating that the theft remained undetected.
I think it is time that we sorted out recording of crime as well as its classification. Our present system portrays us as a crime ridden society and also compares us unfavourably with other European countries. (France for example records mugging as a misdemeanour - we as robbery)! We are no different from any other European nation. Reading the tabloid press and listening to David Davies you would think that we are.
Do you think the public are aware of the difficult balancing act that the police have to carry out? They are measured against so many targets and yet have to try and fulfil the public's expectations of police presence in areas that do not have significant crime problems. Again I blame the media and also politicians who seek to raise fear in pursuit of political gain.
I have digressed - sorry. However Phil, the Authority should be proud of the crime reduction rates in Lincolnshire. We continue to live in a safe county. Long may it remain.......
Liz:
Thanks for your comments - you always add a valued perspective.
Progress has been made on recording crime - prior to 1997 there was no consistency between the 43 police forces. now there is.
however, this in itself has led to problems - as i understand it, if six people report an incident, it can get recorded as six incidents!
also, a kid nicking another kid's mobile in the playground is recorded as a violent crime. it may be so, but in my view should not be in the same category as a serious assault resulting in hospital treatment.
(also a swan walking across a road can be listed as an offence of disorder!!)
work is being done to sort the anomalies - and also to make sure the stats show trends in real violence - ie where there has been an injury to the person!
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