Kirklees crime rate falls dramatically

Jul 2 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CRIME has fallen by almost 13% in Kirklees in just two months.

And the big drop has come as something of a surprise, given the current state of the economy.

There were fears that the recession could have seen a rise in property crime.

But police and councillors are delighted with the fall, which is repeated to a lesser extent across the whole of West Yorkhire.

Only Leeds has shown a general increase in the number of crimes, due mainly to a huge rise in the number of burglaries.

The number of houses attacked in Kirklees has risen slightly, which is of concern to the police, but the total number of crimes in the two-month period covering April and May fell from 6,829 last year to 5,959 this year.

A Kirklees Divisional police spokesman said: “These figures are very encouraging and reflect the good work being undertaken alongside our partners here in Kirklees.

“There has been a continual drive to address the root causes of crime which includes both law enforcement activities and diversionary programmes.

“We are determined to improve public confidence and satisfaction. These latest figures should be an indicator to residents in the district of just how serious we are about improving their quality of life”.

Clr Ken Smith, a Kirklees councillor who serves on the West Yorkshire Police Authority, welcomed the drop in crime.

“Over the two months period, I accept there were still almost 6,000 crimes in our area, which sounds lot.