Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has pledged to maintain the level of police officers to continue reducing crime and victims of crime.
Alan Hardwick has paid tribute to the hard work of officers and staff who have helped to cut the number of crimes committed and the number of people affected by crime and has said his commitment remains to ensuring the safety and security of everyone.
He said: “To that end I have pledged to maintain the current numbers of officers so that we can continue directing our efforts to reduce crime and being there when people need us.
“The end of year statistics provide evidence of our successes so far and we will continue to strive to achieve and serve and provide best value for money for the people of Lincolnshire.”
Assistant Chief Constable Lee Freeman says that the reductions in crime recorded to the end of March translate into thousands fewer victims in the county.
He said: “The headlines we can extract from the detail of last year’s performance figures are the reductions in the number of victims and the continued improving trend in both satisfaction and the confidence levels the public have in us.”
“The 2.7 per cent reduction in overall crime during the reporting year ending on March 31, amounts to 1,000 fewer offences and at least 1,000 fewer victims of crime.
“When you consider the significant reduction of 14 per cent in overall crime in 2012/2013, this continued reduction is good news for Lincolnshire and an indication that the force, our partners and local communities continue to work together to make Lincolnshire one of the safest counties to live, work or visit.
“If we identify just a few examples from the statistics, that recurring message of ‘fewer victims’ is simply good news for the public we serve.
“In the last reporting year alone there were 256 fewer victims of burglary, 195 fewer victims of violence which involved injury and a huge 4,850 fewer victims of anti-social behaviour.
“It’s even better news when you look at the cumulative effect since 2011 – 9,000 fewer victims of crime which include 600 fewer burglary victims, 568 fewer victims of violence (with injury) and a total of 15,798 fewer victims of anti-social behaviour.”
Mr Freeman said there are also encouraging trends in how many crimes Lincolnshire Police detected last year, saying that the quality of investigations remains a priority over the next 12 months.
He said: “Just over 31 per cent of crime was resolved during the year, which was a slight increase over the previous year.
“Also, 47 per cent of violence offences involving an injury were resolved.
“However, for several years now we have moved away from being ‘target driven’ as far as crime resolutions are concerned with the emphasis and effort on providing a high quality investigation and service to victims where crimes do occur and also looking at how we can prevent crimes happening in the first place.”
Mr Freeman said that the latest data indicates that public confidence in the force was also encouraging.
He cited two surveys, the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which found that 71 per cent of people said they had confidence in the police, and the local rolling survey, which showed just over 80 per cent had confidence in Lincolnshire Police.
He said: “There is also an improving trend of satisfaction with the service we provide to the people we come into contact with – that survey is over a period of five years and currently sits at 83 per cent.
“In essence the end of year performance data reinforces the view that Lincolnshire remains a safe place to live, work and visit.
“However, we also recognise that there remains room for continuous improvement of our services and we will continue to focus on keeping members of the public updated on how we are progressing their crimes or incidents.”
