Crime falls in Gloucestershire

9 June 2010, 16:24

Crime has fallen in Gloucestershire for the sixth year in a row.

New figures show 38,276 offences were committed in the county between April 2009 and March 2010, a fall of 13.3% from the year before.

It means crime is at it's lowest level in Gloucestershire since 1989.

Crime down boardChief Constable Tony Melville gave Heart his reaction to the news:

Listen to Tony Melville:

So how has crime affected where you live:

Forest of Dean:

The Forest has seen the biggest drop in crime, with nearly 800 less crimes than 2008/9. There were major falls in violence against the person (down 19%), robbery (down 42.9%) and theft of vehicles (down29.3%).

But there was a rise in sexual offences, which police say is down to more people reporting incidents since the opening of the Sexual Assault Referral centre Hope House.

Chief Inspector Phil Haines and Debbie Powell who is the co-ordinator for the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership are from the Forest of Dean and talked us through the figures:

Listen to Phil Haines:

Listen to Debbie Powell:

Stroud:

Stroud has seen a 19% fall in crime and a decrease in all categories of crime, with significant falls in robbery (22.2%), theft from vehicles (42.4%) and fraud and forgery (31%).

Cotswolds:

Crime in the Cotswolds is down by almost a quarter (24.5%) and there has been falls in drug offences (25.8%), criminal damage (29.4%) and sexual offences (20%), but on the negative side violence against the person, robbery and burglary have all risen.

Gloucester:

Crime is down by 14.9% in Gloucester. One big success with burglaries, with 257 fewer domestic and 200 fewer non-domestic burglaries. There has also been falls in violence against the person, robbery, theft of and from vehicles.

The only crime that has risen is sexual offences, which police put down to more people coming forward to report incidents.

Cheltenham:

Cheltenham has seen the smallest fall in crime, 7.5%. There have been reductions in violent crime, sex offences, robbery, criminal damage, fraud and car crime.

But domestic burglaries have risen by 48.1%, there has also been a rise in drug offences.

Tewkesbury:

There has been a 12% fall in crime in Tewkesbury, with violent crime, robbery, criminal damage and theft of vehicles all falling.

Officers will be looking to improve figures for domestic burglaries, that have gone up by102% and drug offences, up by 17.6%