Crime continues to fall in Shropshire
Crime in the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin area has continued to fall during the first six months of the financial year.
Overall crime in West Mercia fell by 7.7% with 2,484 fewer crimes recorded (29,583 compared to 32,067) between 1 April and 30 September 2013, compared to the same period last year.
The reduction in crime figures continues the downward trend recorded during the first three months of the year (April – June) when crime in West Mercia decreased by 6.4% compared to the same three month period in 2012.
Domestic burglary offences saw the greatest decrease with a drop of 26%, meaning 406 fewer offences were recorded (1,158 compared to 1,564).
The same period (April – September) also saw 27.6% of domestic burglary offences solved across the West Mercia force area. This compares to the 19.8% detection rate for the same period last year.
There were 14% fewer robberies recorded (167 from 194), and violence against the person with injury showed a 13.9% decrease in West Mercia (2,986 compared to 3,469), with a detection rate of 55.5% up from 50.9% at this time last year.
There were 27,202 recorded incidents of antisocial behaviour recorded in West Mercia, which was a decrease of 8.9% or 2,658 incidents (27,202 compared to 29,860 last year).
A total of 85.7% of the victims in the West Mercia force area said they were satisfied with the service they had received from the police, compared to 85.4% for the same period last year.
Commenting on the performance figures for West Mercia, Police and Crime Commissioner Bill Longmore said: “This is good news for local communities across West Mercia. It proves that cutting crime remains the force’s focus despite the significant funding challenges we face. I’d like to thank our officers and other partners involved in this achievement.
“However, we must not become complacent. I know that there is still a lot of work to do in instilling confidence in local policing, especially in our more rural areas. I will continue to work closely with the Chief Constable and I am currently drawing up two strategies to help us tackle rural and business crime.”
Shropshire Stats
Total crime down 9.1% with 576 fewer incidents recorded 5,787 compared to 6,363 for the same period last year.
Domestic burglary was down 34.3% (249 compared to 379) with a 24.9% solved rate (19.8% last year).
Violence against the person with an injury was down 29.7% on this time last year with 543 incidents compared to 772 or 56.9% of offences solved (51.6% last year).
Robbery reduced by 5% from 37 incidents last year to 35 this year.
Antisocial behaviour saw a decrease of 14.3% or 926 incidents (5,566 compared to 6,492). Customer satisfaction was 83.8%.
Shropshire Superintendent James Tozer said:
“I am delighted to see that the hard work put in by police and partners to tackle crime trends and hotspots is paying off. The reductions across all more serious crime types is also matched by significant reductions in crime and antisocial behaviour across the board. This has been achieved by great work from many departments including our safer neighbourhood teams, response teams and locally based CID officers.
“We will not be complacent and will always strive to reduce the impact that crime, antisocial behaviour and related incidents have on the quality of life. You can clearly see that Shropshire remains a safe place to live and work and we will work with the public and other agencies to keep it that way. We cannot do this without strong support from the public - so keep those calls coming in on 101, Crimestoppers and 999 where it is a genuine emergency”.
Telford and Wrekin Stats
Total Crime was down from 4,835 to 4,827, a decrease of 0.2%.
Domestic burglary decreased by 32.5% with 121 fewer burglaries recorded (251 from 372), and a solved rate of 15.5% (15.1% last year).
Violence against the person with injury remained the same at 540 recorded incidents for both six month periods; however the solved rate increased from 46.3% to 60.2%.
Robbery reduced by 18% compared to the same period last year with 37 recorded incidents from 45 last year.
Anti social behaviour saw a decrease in the number of recorded incidents from 5,180 down to 4,995, a decrease of 3.6% and victim satisfaction with the police was 85.4%.
Speaking about the performance figures for Telford and Wrekin Superintendent Nav Malik said:
“I am pleased to see a reduction of crime and anti social behaviour in Telford and Wrekin and particularly in relation to domestic burglary, where we have seen a reduction of 32.5%, which means there have been 121 fewer burglary victims.
“We are doing a considerable amount of work to show a reduction in violent crime, but this is proving to be a challenge, but importantly our detection rate for these types of offences is 60%, demonstrating we are bringing more offenders to justice.
“Over the last few weeks we undertook Operation Sift – a hugely successful operation that saw 30 addresses searched and 24 people arrested for high-end drug supply in the Telford and Wrekin area, because of the connectivity of drugs to car thefts and burglaries.
“Our overall positive success has been achieved, despite the Telford policing area dealing with some very serious crime, none more serious than the tragic murder of Georgia Williams.
“I would like to take the opportunity to thank the public and our partners for supporting on going work.”
