Dear All
I am regularly engaged in discussions with all manner of local residents, councilors, licensees etc on the topic of Police Performance and the measures utilized by the Home Office to hold local policing teams to account for the reduction of certain crime types.
In much the same fashion as the financial year our performance year runs from the 1st April to the 31st March. With the end of the most recent performance year concluding earlier in the week it seems appropriate to link my April update to a brief summary of what was expected of the Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit during that period and what was actually achieved.
Year on year Cheshire Police Authority set Cheshire Constabulary a crime reduction target based upon detailed analysis of crime figures that have been recorded during the previous performance year. To put that into some type of perspective a total reduction figure of 7% was set for the year 2007/2008 and it is by that figure that we have been measured from the 1st April 2007 through until the 31st March 2008.
Having done some initial research into the last performance year I can tell you that the area covered by the Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit has seen a 9.6% reduction in all crime types. Again to put that figure into some type of perspective there have been significantly fewer victims of crime in the area than during the previous year. It is also very important for me to stress that I gain greater satisfaction from seeing a 2.6% reduction over and above the 7% target figure when I consider it in physical terms of local people who have not been victims of crime as opposed to a percentage figure.
All of the performance areas that local policing teams have been held to account over will be analysed in greater detail over the coming days and weeks but in order to dispel a number of myths about our day to day business I am happy to share with you the crime types that I am held to account for. There are five categories of crime types that are measured and encompassed into the all crime types described above and these are Violent Crime, Acquisitive Crime ( theft, shoplifting etc) Burglary, Vehicle Crime and Criminal Damage. Each of those crime types across the Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit area has seen significant reductions during 2007/2008 when compared to 2006/2007.
Violent Crime has reduced by 5.8%, Acquisitive Crime has reduced by 18.4%, Burglary has reduced by 45.9%, Vehicle crime has reduced by 17% and Criminal Damage has reduced by 7.3%, again equating to a significant reduction in the numbers of local people who have been victims of each type of crime.
These reductions in crime cannot be solely credited to the Police Service or to the Macclesfield Neighbourhood Policing Unit. A host of our partner agencies play key parts in achieving these reductions whether that be the Borough Council, local Town or Parish Councils, the local Registered Social Landlord, Trading Standards, the Fire Service or the Probation Service to name but a few. Our joint priority for 2008/2009 has got to be to build upon the figures detailed above and seek further reductions in order to ensure that an even smaller number of local people become victims of crime.
I am more than happy to debate or discuss any of the points that have been outlined above and if anyone would like me to localise some of those figures down to a ward or beat level, for example, then I am more than happy to do so.
Regards
Gareth.
