Crime levels fall by 18 per cent

Kevin McRoberts • Published 26 May 2010 10:28 1 Comment

Levels of recorded crime fell by more than 18 per cent across the Clackmannanshire area last year - with crime reported across the whole of the Central Scotland Police area falling by 12 per cent.

The figures, published in the Chief Constable's annual report for 2009-2010, show there were 2286 fewer crimes across the force area during that period than the year before.

The fall in crime levels has been welcomed by Chief Constable Kevin Smith, with crimes of violence, dishonesty, vandalism and anti-social behaviour all decreasing during 2009-2010.

Mr Smith said, "The reality of crime in this area is that it has fallen significantly in the past year and a high number of crimes committed were successfully detected. To have seen more than 2200 fewer crimes across the Forth Valley should be highly reassuring for the public in Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire. "

The report highlights the areas of work focused on by the force over the past 12 months, from tackling drugs and serious organised crime to reducing road death and injuries.

Anti-social behaviour and disorder, public protection and counter terrorism have all come under the spotlight.

Call to the police in relation to anti-social behaviour and disorder dropped by six per cent in the Wee County, with 419 fewer calls received than the previous year.

Vandalism is still a major problem - it is the single biggest factor in the crime statistics - but levels of such crimes are down by 22 per cent in Clackmannanshire in the past year, with 276 fewer crimes reported.

Crimes of violence in the Clackmannanshire area are also down by 31 per cent.

The crackdown of drug dealers has resulted in some significant successes during the year, with one particular case involving the seizure of a large amount of heroin and bulking agent in Clackmannanshire. Had the drugs reached the streets, there estimated value was approximately £1 million.

On the roads, seven people lost their lives across the force area, compared with 15 the previous year, while the number of people injured in road accidents has continued to fall.

Mr Smith said it had been a year in which the force had been involved in several major investigations, yet the performance of the force had been extremely strong.

He added that the public often have a perception about crime being higher than it is, but in the past two years the force had seen sustained decreases with high detection rates. The detection rate for the past year was 60 per cent, well above the national average.

The Chief Constable went on, "The message to the public is clear - your communities are seeing less crime and when it does take place there is a very high chance of it being detected.

"We have moved towards even more effective working between community policing teams and specialist units such as road policing and crime management services. The ultimate objective is to ensure our communities are as safe as they can be and that criminals find it more difficult to operate."

Councillor George Matchett, convener of Central Scotland Joint Police Board, welcomed the very positive report into the force's activity in the past 12 months.

He said, "It is very pleasing to see that the focus has very firmly remained on keeping communities as safe as they can be - whether that is from the threat of increasingly sophisticated organised criminals or youths engaged in disorder in the street.

"The board will continue to support the Chief Constable, scrutinise the performance of the force and ensure the interests of the public are best served by having as effective and efficient a police force as possible within Central Scotland."

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• 

  Jim Mackie
  Unregistered User
  May 26, 12:48
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  There are statistics, statistics and dammed statistics. The key words in this article are "reported crime figures". Reported crime figures do not show what the true crime levels are. Reported crime figures are those that the police decide to record as a crime. With police stations closed to the public and a telephone answering service that prevents the public actually speaking to a police officer, now wonder "reported crime figures" are down year on year. The public have lost faith in Central; Scotland Police therefore do not bother to report crime. It is long overdue that the Chief Constables and his senior management team stopped playing politics and got back to "real policing". Real policing is actually getting out on the street meeting the public, listening and responding to their concerns and complaints. Central Scotland Police employs more civilians each year. We have telephonists, scenes of crime investigators, community wardens, traffic wardens and precognition officers. Having employed all these civilians to take away menial tasks from the police, where have the police gone? They are never seen on the street and take days to response to a call when THEY decide it is something they want to deal with. If Central Scotland Police was a private company reporting to share holders, the senior managers would be sacked for non performance. It is time the public shouted more to the press about lack of action by Central Scotland Police.
  
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