Lincolnshire: Crime down by 10 per cent

The results showed an average reduction of four per cent across England and Wales with Lincolnshire showing the second biggest reduction.

The only UK force to record a higher decrease in crime was North Wales, with a drop of 11 per cent.

The figures compare the 12 month period up to the end of September 2013 with the same period in the previous year.

Burglaries, robberies, criminal damage, violence and injury, anti-social behaviour and road deaths all decreased, but the number of sexual offences, thefts and shoplifting in Lincolnshire went up.

And despite the positive figures, Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Neil Rhodes said it is people that matter - not percentages.

“I think that the most important thing for the people of Lincolnshire is that our officers are really tuned in to providing a good quality of service to the public and that they understand that it’s people that matter, not statistics,” he said.

“But behind each recorded crime is a victim, and I am very proud of the efforts of Lincolnshire officers in reducing the number of victims in our county as reflected in the figures.”

A separate set of figures released last week also revealed a fall in offending in Lincolnshire.

Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick revealed that between April and December 2013 there was a three per cent fall in recorded offences compared to the same period in 2012 - 853 fewer crimes.

There were big falls in anti-social behaviour (by 18.1 per cent), burglary of dwellings (by 13.7 per cent) and vehicle crimes (by 13.4 per cent).

Mr Hardwick said: “The latest performance figures show that once again in Lincolnshire we are winning the fight against crime.”

“I’m not saying that we can’t do better, we can, anyone looking at any set of figures knows that that is true, we can do better, but I’m very, very pleased with the performance of the whole police family.”

“The professionalism, respect, integrity, dedication and empathy they show when dealing with situations that are often challenging and unpleasant is a credit to them and to the force and I thank them for helping Lincolnshire continue to be one of the safest places in the country to live.”

The only crime types which went up were sexual offences (by 12.7 per cent) and theft/shoplifting (by five per cent), both of which have seen rises nationally.

We want to know what you think about these latest crime figures. Do you think crime is down? And do you feel safer? Or do you think the reductions are due to the different ways police record crime?

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