CRIME in Cheshire is down by almost five per cent and is at its lowest rate since the early 1990s, according to a review of Cheshire Constabulary’s year end performance.
Thirty two per cent of crimes are being detected – the highest level seen since 2010.
The figures show the force is targeting offenders and bringing crime down while delivering a service that the public says it wants.
Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: “Cheshire Constabulary is demonstrating that ‘We’re Here’ for the county’s residents after the latest figures revealed the force is performing at its best for many years. This shows that Cheshire is really punching above its weight.
“The Constabulary has robustly tackled those who commit offences in Cheshire, and high profile operations such as Operation Hatay and Operation Crossbow were executed to tackle wanted offenders and travelling criminality respectively.
“We’ve made more arrests than last year (up three per cent), executed more warrants on those evading justice (up 14 per cent) and confiscated more criminal assets under the Proceeds Of Crime Act – with over £1.6m in cash seizures in the last year compared to £364,000.
“Other areas of focus have led to some great results such as the lowest level of domestic burglary and vehicle offences in modern times, while businesses in Cheshire have also seen the benefit of crime reductions with an eight per cent reduction in shoplifting compared to last year and business robbery reducing by over 40 per cent from 81 offences last year to 46 this year.”
Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer said: “I set the objectives for the Chief Constable to work towards and hold him to account for his performance, and I am delighted to see that in his first year in post, Simon Byrne has risen to the challenges set for him.
“Most importantly, the Constabulary is providing the service that people want. People told me that they want the police to come when they call and there have been significantly improved emergency response times (within 15 minutes), from 80 per cent up to 90 per cent. The reduction in crime means 2,696 fewer victims and 95 per cent of those that were unfortunate enough to become victims said they were satisfied with the way that they were treated.”
In addition there were nearly 4,000 fewer incidents of anti-social behaviour, burglary at home was down by more than 16 per cent, 627 fewer incidents of theft from vehicles and robbery was down by 25.5 per cent.
Pictured: Chief Constable Simon Byrne and Police and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer.
