Cheshire’s crime stats show third largest reduction in crime in country

The latest crime statistics released show that crime continues to fall in Cheshire, with the county recording the 3^rd largest reduction in crime across England and Wales.

Figures released today (22^nd January 2015) for the 12 months ending September 2014 show an overall reduction in crime of 7% compared to the previous 12 months.

Deputy Chief Constable Janette McCormick said: “Acquisitive crimes such as shoplifting, theft, robbery and burglary have all fallen during this reporting period. However, we are not being complacent. In the build-up to Christmas, we ran the campaign ‘Blue Christmas′ which encouraged residents to think about protecting their property and valuables in order to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime, through re-thinking about the security of their own home and vehicle and also through promoting property marking.”

Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer said: “I have placed victims at the centre of policing and it is particularly positive to see that crimes that affect people in their own homes, where they should feel safe, such as burglary have fallen by over 8%. Also, crimes that affect the business community such as robbery have fallen. People often think this is a victimless crime but the impact on employers and employees can be devastating. Over the next few months, I will be commissioning services to improve the support provided to victims of all crime but it is pleasing to see this latest set of results which reveal that there are fewer victims in Cheshire.”

“Whilst we have seen a rise in sexual offences, this highlights the increasing confidence of victims to come forward and report crimes such as these to the police. There has also been strong focus on the needs of the victims and we work alongside all relevant agencies to ensure victims of sexual offences have access to all the help and support they need”, added Deputy Chief Constable Janette McCormick.

The Constabulary has been very proactive in trying to combat retail crime and has used technology such as ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) at key shopping outlets in order to tackle crimes such as shoplifting.

Another good example of proactive policing saw an operation to arrest outstanding offenders through focussing the force′s efforts on those who were attempting to evade justice. Operation Hatay, which ran in June and September 2014 saw a total of 352 outstanding offenders arrested in a joint operation with teams from the Neighbourhood Policing Units, the Major Investigation Team, Force Operations Department and the Criminal Justice Department. The results of this operation led to a significant number of serious offenders being arrested as part of the combined effort of all those involved.

“These results show that our proactive approach to policing Cheshire is working and this combined with our commitment to being there for the public when they need us, reinforces our commitment to the community and keeping the community safe”, said Deputy Chief Constable Janette McCormick.