CRIME is down in West Yorkshire – except for a blip in house burglaries.
The county’s police force has just revealed its latest figures which show that overall crime fell by more than 8% in 2007/8 compared to the previous year.
This equates to 21,475 fewer victims of crime such as robbery, vehicle theft and violent crime.
Latest figures also show a 5% reduction in robberies (159 fewer offences), vehicle crime down by more than a 14% (4,965 fewer offences), criminal damage down by more than 12% (7,515 fewer offences) and violent crime down by 9.6% (4,679 fewer offences).
But house burglaries went up by 3.8% which mean 1,300 more offences were committed.
Police stress that the number of house burglary victims in the county has halved in the last five years, down 49% compared to figures for 2002/3. Deputy Chief Constable Julia Hodson said that the force had exceeded West Yorkshire Police Authority's 25% reduction target for crimes including violent offences, criminal damage and burglary.
They attained a 30% reduction compared with the level in 2003/4.
Ms Hodson said: “We have significantly cut crime during the last 12 months and we and our community safety partners are working hard to ensure that the good work continues.
“We are also committed to delivering the best possible service to people living in the county. British Crime Survey results show that confidence and satisfaction levels are stable and the fear of crime has fallen. Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams are at the forefront of this building up relationships in communities and dealing with local problems.”
Ann Liston, chairman of the Authority's strategic planning and performance committee, said: "The force is continuing the trend set in the last quarter, driving down crime and producing good results against the stretching targets set for it by the Authority.
“The challenge is to keep up this work, but there is plenty in these latest figures for the people of West Yorkshire to be pleased about.”
