05 September 2012
Bedfordshire continues to become a safer place to live,
new figures reveal
Bedfordshire’s outgoing Police Authority has
welcomed the optimistic start made to 2012/13 which has seen crime
levels continue to fall across many areas.
Chief Constable Alf Hitchcock told members
that overall crime has continued to plummet 16% so far this year –
on top of a highly successful 12 months which resulted in large
reductions and dramatic improvements in the force’s national
rankings in most major crime categories.
Since April, domestic burglary – a key
priority in the force’s Policing Plan because of the importance
placed on it by the public in Bedfordshire – has dropped 12% which
is an exceptional achievement on the back of the 20% reduction
achieved last year. Meanwhile, robbery has fallen by 10%, vehicle
crime by 17%, violence against the person by 19% and most serious
violence by 30%.
The continued success is partly due to changes
in the way the force is focusing on and investigating crime.
Members have been told the Integrated Offender Management Scheme is
providing an increasingly powerful system of monitoring the most
prolific offenders and encouraging a co-ordinated approach between
local agencies to have the optimum effect on re-offending rates.
Meanwhile, changes to the way in which the control room operates
including the introduction of a new appointment system for
non-emergency appointments is bringing significant benefits to
resource management. This initiative enables police officers to
meet victims and witnesses at times convenient to them to resolve
non-urgent issues.
The Force and Authority has also focused heavily
on anti-social behaviour, recognising its impact on the quality of
life in our communities and the role it plays in the public’s
perception of safety. A new pilot is currently taking place in
Luton which is aimed at delivering further positive results and
improving the experience of members of the public reporting these
offences.
Peter Conniff, chairman of Bedfordshire Police
Authority, said: “The progress made so far this year is extremely
positive and reassures this Authority that the raft of changes
introduced to streamline the way the force operates as a result of
financial pressures are delivering impressive results. It is only
by achieving these improvements to the public’s outcomes, through
reduced crime and more detections, whilst cutting costs that we can
be confident that the policing service in Bedfordshire will be
valued by our communities.
“However, we are never complacent when it comes
to performance, especially when we are talking about figures that
have been recorded very early in the year, and will continue to
play our part in monitoring crime levels and detection results to
improve standards further to ensure the incoming Police and Crime
Commissioner has the best possible platform to build on for future
success.”
Chief Constable Alf Hitchcock added: “I’m
delighted that crime has continued to fall but this isn’t really
about numbers and statistics, it’s about Bedfordshire residents not
coming home to find they have been burgled or the windows of their
car smashed. All our staff have worked hard, along with the other
agencies that we work alongside, to achieve this. I’m particularly
pleased considering we’ve had some big challenges to face in the
last 12 months, and will continue to face them as we strive to
improve even more in the next six
months.”
