GOOD NEWS FOR RESIDENTS AS LATEST FIGURES SHOW SUBSTANTIAL FALL IN CRIME IN GLOUCESTER AND THE FOREST
28 September 2007
One in ten fewer Forest and Gloucester residents have suffered the trauma and inconvenience of being a victim of crime this year thanks to a substantial reduction in the number of offences committed here.
Force-wide figures show that 9.98 fewer crimes were recorded in the county between April 1 and September 19 2007 compared with the same period last year.
The Forest and Gloucester Division’s Chief Superintendent Nigel Avron says it’s good news for people living and working here that the reduction in that period for this area is an even greater 10.54 per cent.
He said: "This is an exceptional result for the first six months of the year and emphasises the message given by the Chief Constable that locally less people have been victims of crime. We are determined as a policing division and as part of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership to make the Forest and Gloucester area an even safer place to live and work".
Whereas 9547 offences were recorded in the Division between these dates in 2006, the figure dropped by 910 to 8637 this year.
Key areas saw impressive reductions. The number of robberies reported fell by 32 per cent to 65, the number of burglaries dropped by 13 per cent to 907 and criminal damage incidents fell from 2034 incidents to 1841, a drop of 10.48 per cent.
Incidents of violence also fell by 11.23 per cent.
"To achieve key reductions in areas such as robbery is impressive, even more so given the backdrop of a significant reduction in the previous year", Chief Superintendent Avron said. "It has, fortunately, been unlikely for anyone to become the victim of a violent incident while in the Gloucester and Forest area but as these figures show, such events are now even rarer.
"We will continue to build on this success, continue proactive policing operations targeting key areas of crime and retain our focus on tackling persistent offenders."
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