Crime in the Gwent Police force area is down by 20%, latest Home Office figures show.
The year-on-year drop in crime, the largest in England and Wales, meant there were 8,000 fewer victims of crime.
Between September 2012 and September 2011, a total of 34,903 crimes were committed. Between September 2011 and September 2010, 43,395 crimes were committed.
Assistant Chief Constable of Gwent Police Simon Prince said: “The figures released today show that Gwent Police are national leaders in bringing down crime. The Force has consistently achieved big reductions in crime over the past year and this is very good news for people in Gwent.
“Once again I’m very proud of the performance of Gwent officers and staff. The dedication and pride they put into their work is inspirational, and their performance in driving down crime is even more impressive given the challenging times.
“The figures are yet another endorsement of our flexible and innovative approach to tackling crime and the preventative work we do with our partners and the public.
“Whilst the figures are very detailed, one important element which is not included is the increase in the number of convictions in Gwent. Working closely with our partners the Crown Prosecution service we are succeeding in bringing more offenders to justice. Victims are seeing even more people convicted in Court of the crimes they have committed, and having to face the consequences of their actions.”
A breakdown of figures across Gwent (Source: Home Office)
Burglary was down 25% or 1,571 fewer incidents
Robbery was down 31% or 22 fewer victims
Vehicle crime was down 31% or 1,735 fewer incidents
Criminal damage was down 23% or 1,989 fewer incidents
Violence against the person was down 18% or 1,411 fewer incidents
Sexual offences down 18% or 108 fewer victims
Fraud and Forgery was down 56% or 710 fewer incidents
Drug offences up 12%.
ACC Prince added: “Overall the news is positive but the figures published today will be of little comfort to those who have been victims of crime or anti-social behaviour. I want to make it clear to every victim of crime that Gwent Police is your Police Force – we are on your side, and we will continue to work relentlessly to target criminals and make Gwent a safer place.”
Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner Ian Johnston added: “One of my main responsibilities as the Police and Crime Commissioner is to hold the Chief Constable to account in regards to performance on behalf of residents.
“The figures published today are welcome news and I congratulate the Chief Constable and her team for their hard work and dedication.
“It goes without saying that I will continue to press for more in the way of crime reduction and the Chief Constable is fully aware that the targets I will set will be challenging but achievable. Working together we will continue to improve the policing service Gwent residents deserve.”
I do not believe this one iota. You can never get hold of a policeman or ever see them. When you ring their mobile number you get an answerphone, police stations are not manned. PACT meetings that are never advertised in the local shops. Drug related crimes are on the up.
Jan – Is correct of course.
The National Statistics office, the Statistical Authority, the ` official` body for all things ` statistical` in this country have said that all police forces were under ` informal pressure` to meet crime reduction targets, and, so may have downgrades some crimes so they are not ` reported crimes`.
They say that Burglary would be reported as criminal damage or low level vandalism or even tresspass. and vandalism downgraded to anti- social behaviour, thus, messaging the true figures. 400,000 fewer crimes were recorded by police forces in the last four years, ( since the police statistics have started to show dramatic falls in crimes) whilst the official crime survey for England and Wales show a very different picture.
The Association of Chief Police Officers agree that there is such a discrepancy but they say there are ` other` reasons for it. Would`nt it be interesting to see what those reason are if they are not as the National Statistics office have warned?. One of those reasons may be that local Neighbourhood policing teams are dealing with some localised crimes, informally, and as such they never find their way to the official records. These PSO`s and local police officers also make a judgement call when dealing with complaints from the public as to whether the incident is actually a crime or a ` low level incident`, in which case it not a recorded crime even though the victim may consider it differently.
I attended my local (St. Martin's Ward, Caerffili) PACT meeting last night and raised this as a topic for discussion as residents have voiced their concerns over the way crimes are recorded.
The police assured the meeting that, although all calls are logged as "incidents" if there is then found to have been a crime committed, damage, theft, etc the indident will be recorded as a crime. I also verified that several "incidents" that occur at the same place and time, for instance criminal damage affecting several properties, are not recorded as one crime but treated as separate cases.
If this is so I am content with the methodology of recording crime but am as puzzled by the big reduction in crime figures as other residents. A clue is perhaps in a recent incident related by a member of the public at this meeting. A few weeks ago several vans were broken into in two adjoining streets. Of the three vans burgled only one owner reported the crime. I would urge all those who believe they have been a victim of crime to report this to the police. This will enable them to get an accurate picture of the scale of the problem and be able to assign resources accordingly.