Local crime at a 12 year low

Overall reported crime has fallen by over a quarter since last October.

Figures for E District - which includes Craigavon - showed there were almost 400 fewer crimes reported in January (1,061 incidents) compared to October (1,441).

E District Commander Alasdair Robinson was delighted with the figures: “Since last October we’ve seen a decrease of 26.4 per cent in reported crime. While this reduction is to be welcomed, we are not complacent.

“Our efforts will be focused on listening to communities, identifying local issues of concern and working together to solve them.

“We will protect our communities by working to reduce serious harm, delivering real results - taking drugs off our streets, reducing road deaths, dealing with alcohol related crime and working with communities to disrupt terrorist activity. We still have much to do.”

The District Commander reported that incidents involving violence with injury had fallen by just under 10 per cent, from 171 offences to 154, while the number of reported instances of sexual offences dropped from 20 to 17, a decrease of 15 per cent.

There was also a slight drop of just under 5% in the number of burglaries in the area, down from 171 to 165.

District Commander Robinson did concede, however, that robberies had increased by over 30%, although, he said: “The actual figures are small, with the increase being from 16 to 21 offences, and our approach to tackling this issue will remain a key policing priority.”

He said: “The Chief Constable has made a commitment to increase personal contact with communities and put extra police officers on the frontline. This is already underway with over 250 more officers now working in neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland.”

More officers are to join them in the coming months, he revealed, and by tackling bureaucracy they should enable police officers to spend more time in the community.

He concluded by referring to the terrorist threat: “This significant reduction in overall crime has been delivered against the backdrop of a very real terrorist threat against police and our society.

“With great support from our An Garda Siochana and Security Service colleagues, we remain committed to tackling the dissident terrorist threat. Without this threat, we could concentrate our resources on reducing crime levels even further.

“These are testing times but police remain committed to working with all communities to provide the public with the level of policing and support they deserve.”