National crime survey highlights excellent work of NYP
Thursday, 16 July, 2009
North Yorkshire and the City of York continues to be one of the safest and low-crime areas of the country, according to the latest British Crime Survey (BCS).
The BCS is an important source of information about levels of crime and public attitudes to crime, as well as other criminal justice issues. It also includes crimes which are not reported to the police, so it is an important alternative to police records and gives a truer reflection of crime issues.
The Home Office statistical bulletin for Crime in England and Wales for 2008/09 is also published today. Again, the performance of North Yorkshire Police was impressive. However, due to an administrative error the published figures for recorded crime only are incorrect. North Yorkshire Police informed the Home Office about the error but it was too late for the report to be changed in time for publication.
The Home Office will amend the statistics for subsequent reports.
The BCS responses for 2008/09 in terms of perception of anti-social behaviour, showed that North Yorkshire has the lowest level in the country at just 8%. The national rate in England and Wales is 17%.
The drop in this persistent problem is a direct result of the force's Safer Neighbourhoods approach to policing our communities, which also led to a rise in public confidence.
This success was outlined by Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell in his performance report to the Police Authority in May. This showed that crime in North Yorkshire was at a 10-year low.
Based on crimes per 1,000 residents, the force was placed a creditable fifth in England. This equates to 64 crimes per 1,000 residents. Figures for April to May 2009 (the new reporting period) indicated that this high-level of performance improved further, with the force placed second in England and Wales, and first in England.
According to the survey, 58% of the residents of North Yorkshire and the City of York stated that North Yorkshire Police is doing an "excellent" or "good" job. This is the highest in the Yorkshire and Humber region, and the seventh highest nationally.
The BCS also showed that North Yorkshire Police has the second lowest perceived level of drug dealing and drug use, at 18%. The average for England and Wales is 26%.
And the force also has the lowest perceived level of drunk and rowdy behaviour in England and Wales at 17%, with the national average at 26%.
Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said: "Living and working in safe and low-crime communities is a high priority for everybody. As these latest figures show, North Yorkshire Police is doing everything in its power to achieve this.
"The results are also testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone connected to North Yorkshire Police and the support of North Yorkshire Police Authority.
"While we still face many challenges and performance can be further improved, I am nevertheless extremely proud of the great strides we have made to drive down crime and make North Yorkshire Police the vital and trusted hub of the communities we serve."
