Decrease in reported crime across borough

The figures, which were outlined at a meeting of Carrickfergus PCSP earlier this month, indicated there were 44 less crime reports in 2013/14 than in 2012/13, a 3.3 percent decrease.

A PSNI spokesperson indicated this was a “very positive picture” when compared against a service increase of 2.3 percent across Northern Ireland.

Several types of crime saw a drop in reported incidents compared to the previous year. In April 2014, 12 burglaries were reported, a 20 percent decrease on April 2013.

Some 164 violent crime offences were reported in 2013/1 - a decrease of 33 incidents.

Forty percent of violent crimes occurred in public places, 22 percent occurred in private dwellings, 9 percent in commercial premises, 9 percent were fights between young people under the age of 18, 7 percent were neighbour disputes, 6 percent occurred in pubs and bars and 4 percent were hate crimes.

However, some types of offences saw a rise over the past year, with the 52 drug offences reported in 2013/14 marking a 4 percent increase.

Of the 52 offences, 39 were for possession and 13 were for trafficking.

There was also a 7.9 percent increase in domestic abuse offences, despite a decrease in the number of reported incidents.

Of 206 domestic abuse offences, 54 percent were committed by the partner or ex-partner of the injured party, 17 percent by the parent or step-parent of the injured party, 7 percent by the child of the injured party and 7 percent were committed by the sibling of the injured party.

Paramilitary attacks accounted for approximately 4 percent of reported assaults in 2013/14. In the fight to combat these kind of attacks, police in Carrickfergus during the month of April carried out eight searches and made six arrests.

In total, the time spent out of the PSNI station by officers in April 2014 was 51 percent.