12/04/12…Crime levels down in Thames Valley

THE overall level of crime in the Thames Valley has fallen by more than 13 per cent according to the latest figures released yesterday (11/04) by Thames Valley Police.

In a year where the Force has had to make budget cuts while protecting front-line policing, statistics for April 2011 to the end of March 2012 show there were 22,566 fewer crimes in the Thames Valley compared with the same period in 2010/11, equating to a fall of 13.1 per cent.

In the South and Vale Local Policing area, which includes Thame, the crime rate fell by 15.6 per cent.

Categories of crime showing the largest reduction include violent crime against the person, sexual offences and serious acquisitive crime.

The end of the year crime summaries show that in 2010/11 there were 172,397 crimes recorded across the Force area which serves more than two million people, compared to 149,831 crimes during the period 2011/12.

The number of offences of causing death by driving dropped by more than 62 per cent, and offences of violence against the person without injury fell from 35,910 to 27,324, a reduction of 26.9 per cent. The total number of violence against the person offences fell by 23.9 per cent.

Serious sexual offences fell by nine per cent from 1,524 to 1,387 and serious acquisitive crime fell from 28,414 to 24,709 representing a decrease of 13 per cent.

Domestic burglaries fell by 8.2 per cent from 9,600 to 8,817 and the number of burglaries of business premises fell by more than ten per cent from 11,206 to 10,051.

Theft of vehicles and from vehicles have fallen by 25.7 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively, while vehicle interference offences have dropped by 38.5 per cent.

The number of criminal damage offences has fallen by 15.3 per cent, but drug possession has seen an increase of four per cent and drug trafficking has increased by 14.9 per cent.

The number of offences listed in the ?other? category which includes hate crime, domestic abuse, homophobic and racist incidents has also fallen.

Chief Constable Sara Thornton said: ?Cutting crime is Thames Valley Police?s most important responsibility and I am really pleased that we have cut crime by 13 per cent over the last year. We have done this despite reductions in our budget which makes it more impressive. Most important of all, this means that there were over 20,000 fewer victims in Thames Valley last year.?

Thames Valley Police Authority chairman, Khan Juna, said: ?The continued reduction in crime across the Thames Valley area over the last year is certainly good news for people living in the Thames Valley area.

?The improvement in our crime figures confirms the ongoing success of our commitment to responding to the priorities of the public, being to cut crimes that are of most concern to the community; to increase the visible presence of the police, and to protect our communities from the most serious harm.

?On behalf of our communities I would again like to thank the Force for their efforts and hard work in achieving this further improvement in crime reduction. Nevertheless, we all want to see this improvement continue and will support our Force in their challenge to reduce crime even further.?