Figures released today show that crime continues to fall across Cheshire

 

Residents in Cheshire can be reassured by crime statistics released today that Cheshire continues to be a safe area in which to live and work and visit.

All recorded crime in Cheshire has fallen by six percent for the period April 2011 to March 2012, two percent more than the reductions achieved nationally.

Cheshire Constabulary has worked closely with partner agencies within the wider criminal justice system to make it harder for criminals to commit crime.We have worked with those who are identified as prolific offenders to deter them from leading criminal lifestyles, and our neighbourhood officers are dedicated in addressing crime and disorder issues that really concern local communities.

Deputy Chief Constable Helen King said "We continue to build upon our successes in reducing crime over recent years, particularly encouraging is that there are almost 4,000 fewer victims of crime in our county. In particular we have seen a six percent reduction in the number of homeowners becoming victims of burglary, and over 1,300 fewer victims of violent crime.

Drug related crime in the community continues to be an issue raised by local residents, and over the course of the last 12 months we have carried out a number of targeted operations to dismantle drug activity in our area. This has increased the number of arrests we made for drug possession, supply and production and is evidenced in the report by a slight increase in the number of drug offences reported to us."

"Particularly encouraging is that victims of rape and serious sexual offences have come forward and reported the matter to us, resulting in more perpetrators of sex crimes being brought to justice. This has resulted in an increase in the number of sexual offences recorded by 5%.

"We are keen to reiterate that crime doesn′t pay.We have seized more than £1 million pounds in cash seizures and forfeitures from criminals in Cheshire between April last year and March this year and reduced fraud offences by 18% on last years figures.

"Todays′ report provides a good foundation for us to build on and we have continued to see reductions in crime over the past few months. We need to continue to strengthen the working relationships we have with other agencies and to seek new and innovative ways of working over the coming months that will continue to drive down the number of individuals who become victims of crime in a climate of reducing budgets."

We are committed to achieving justice outcomes that meets the needs of victims, the community and are more likely to reduce future offending for those who commit crime. As a consequence our officers regularly utilise Restorative Justice as a means of addressing low level offending. The use of this outcome is not recognised in national figures data, but is the right outcome in many cases.

We are confident that the current detection data is a fair representation of our staff using appropriate discretion in individual cases and pursuing outcomes that have a likelihood of reducing future offending.

Where serious crimes are under investigation we will explore every investigative opportunity (on occasions over a number of years) to ensure that offenders are brought to justice through the Courts."