Notts joint top for crime reduction
Home Office figures released today confirm Nottinghamshire has the joint highest crime reduction rate in England and Wales.
The statistics show the number of offences committed in each of the 43 police areas in the 12 months up to the end of September.
In Nottinghamshire, there were a total of 90,583 offences recorded by the Home Office between October 1, 2009, and September 30, 2010, 17,356 fewer than in the previous 12 months (October 2008-September 2009).
Those reductions show that for the second successive quarter, overall crime fell in Nottinghamshire by 16 per cent, more than double the national average rate of 7%.
Among the biggest reductions were:
•Vehicle crime, which fell by almost a third from 14,477 offences in the 12 months to end of September 2009 to 10,148 offences in the year up to 30 September 2010. Nottinghamshire has the highest vehicle crime reduction rate of all forces.
•Criminal damage offences fell by almost a quarter from 22,793 to 17,324, the fourth highest reduction rate in England and Wales.
•Burglary was down from 16,139 offences to 13,660 offences, a 15% reduction. Nottinghamshire has the country’s sixth highest reduction rate for domestic burglary.
•There were almost 3,000 fewer violent offences, 16,578 according to the Home Office figures compared to 19,417 the previous year, another 15% reduction. The third largest reduction nationally.
•Robbery offences fell from 2,116 to 1,729, an 18% fall, almost four times the national reduction rate.
•Sexual offences reduced by 8%, from 1,262 to 1,164.
A supplementary report by the Home Offices also shows that firearms offences in Nottinghamshire fell from 204 in 2008/09 to 153 in 2009/10, again representing a reduction of around 25%.
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Broadbent said: “The Home Office statistics are a resounding endorsement of what we have been saying for some time now. Crime is not only falling in Nottinghamshire, but overall it is falling at a faster rate than almost anywhere else in the country.
“These reductions can only be regarded as good news if you live, work or do business in Nottinghamshire, or if you are a visitor to the county. Year on year, this is becoming a safer place to be. A total of 17,000 fewer crimes also means 17,000 fewer victims.
“Nottinghamshire leads the way in vehicle crime reduction rates, and is one of the very best performing forces when it comes to reductions in violent crime, burglary and robbery. Even the increase in recorded drugs offences is actually encouraging because it largely reflects the increased willingness of the community to report suspected drugs-related activity to the police.
“This is progress that we, our partners and, most importantly, the residents of the city and the county can all be very proud of. A lot of very hard work has gone into, first, achieving such high crime reduction rates and, secondly, maintaining them.
“However, we refuse to be complacent. We are determined to make Nottinghamshire the finest police force in England and Wales and there is still much to do to achieve that aim."
