Crime Falls In Bedfordshire

8 February 2010, 13:08 | Updated: 8 February 2010, 13:23

Crime in Bedfordshire has dropped by 8% in the nine months ending 31st December 2009 compared to the previous year.

That equates to 2,744 fewer incidents.

Members of the Bedfordshire Police Authority’s Performance Committee met this week to scrutinise the latest performance figures for Bedfordshire Police and discuss the delivery of the Policing Pledge.

Amongst the figures there was:

• A fall of 33% (269) in robbery offences
• A reduction of 15% (452) in domestic burglary offences
• A 20% (789) drop in theft from a vehicle
• A 21% (217) drop in theft of a vehicle.

The performance report also showed a 7% reduction in criminal damage (477 fewer incidents); a drop in sexual offences of 14% (59 fewer crimes) and a 26% (285) fall in fraud and forgery offences.

However, the committee were concerned that there'd been 322 incidents of serious violence against a 9 month target of 205 despite a number of strategies put in place to tackle violent crime.

And although overall detections remained at 26%, detections relating to robbery, vehicle crime, violent crime and racially aggravated crime are also below the targets that had been set.

Martin Pantling, Chair of the Authority’s Performance Committee, said:  "We obviously welcome the noticeable reductions in certain categories of crime, and the fall in crime overall, but we are concerned at the number of violent offences being recorded.

The Chief Constable gave a comprehensive report on the work being carried out to address these types of offence and we have asked her to keep us informed of progress on an ongoing basis.  We have also made clear that, given the increased resources now at the Force’s disposal we would expect to see an increase in the number of crimes detected in priority areas.

Finally, the Police Authority wants Bedfordshire residents to not just be safer, but to feel safer too, so we asked for a report on good practices in other forces to ensure that reductions in crime translate into public reassurance.  We will consider this and the overall approach to increasing confidence, at our next meeting."