Crime falls in Derbyshire
Crime in Derbyshire is continuing to be reduced according to the initial end of year performance results.
For the period April 1st 2004 to March 31st 2005 all crime in Derbyshire is down 13.8 per cent from 98,369 to 84,750 equating to 13,619 fewer offences.
House burglary is down 34 per cent (2603 fewer offences), other burglary down 21 per cent (1755 fewer offences) and vehicle crime down 28.8 per cent (4219 fewer offences).
Violent crime shows a slight increase of 1.6 per cent (299 more offences). Broken down, that amounts to 258 more assaults (1.6 per cent increase), 252 more sexual offences* (27.2 per cent increase) and 211 fewer robberies (20.8 per cent decrease).
Criminal damage and arson offences are down 4.7 per cent - 895 fewer, while drugs offences** are up 6.3 per cent with 119 more.
The force's overall detection rate is up 2.8 per cent to 27.9 per cent.
Chief Constable David Coleman said: "These results are very encouraging and represent very good news for the people of Derbyshire.
"We are constantly striving to improve performance, reduce crime and reduce the fear of crime and we receive excellent support from our partners and from the public.
"The past year has been a tremendous effort by all of us but we must not become complacent if we are to continue making Derbyshire safer.
"It is particularly satisfying to see that offences such as burglary and vehicle crime, which are more likely to affect people's day to day lives, have seen such positive decreases.
"We have been involved in a lot of pro-active work in these areas through raising awareness with the public of how to lessen the opportunities for criminals and also the setting up of specific teams to conduct operations targeting burglars, car criminals and other prolific offenders.
"Violent crime is an area which has been attracting much scrutiny and discussion by politicians, the media and the public at large.
"It is something that people are right to be concerned about and we have been working extremely hard to tackle it.
"Although we have not attained a reduction in these year on year results we are getting closer to turning the tide and we have performed much better than the national average.
"Much of the emphasis surrounding violent crime has been on alcohol related crime and we have been working closely with the licensing trade in the county, trading standards and other agencies with a view to making our towns and city centre's safe, accessible and enjoyable for all."
Note
Figures provided are the initial results for the end of year. They may be liable to very slight change at a later date.
* The Sexual Offences Act was amended in May 2004 to include incidents of indecent exposure.
Also Derbyshire police set up its SOLO (Sexual Offence Liaison Officers) unit, a dedicated team to deal with victims of sexual assault and launched Millfield House, its sexual assault referral centre, with the emphasis on encouraging more victims of sexual assault to come forward and report incidents.
** Drugs offences are a result of pro-active police action and arrests.
Source: Derbyshire Constabulary
