Crime: Nottinghamshire shows decreases across the board – figures are pre-lockdown

In particular, knife crime and burglary are showing significant reductions.

Today the Office of National Statistics has released figures which show how police forces across the country have done in comparison to each other up to December last year.

These ONS figures show the crime rates only to the end of the last year but the force’s own more recent figures, to the end of March 2020, show that the force has actually reduced crime by 0.5 per cent.

Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “We know that the crime rates to last December continued to reduce and our year-end figure at the end of March showed a reduction against the national trend. This is just what the public wants to see.

“This shows the amazing hard work of my officers and staff and their commitment to driving down these figures and dealing with all crime types.

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“We’ve listened and responded to local priorities with our partners, honing in on problems which continue to threaten our communities including drug dealing, knife crime, burglary and serious violence.”

Knife crimes and burglaries have continued to reduce in Nottinghamshire according to the latest national statistics.

Robberies also remained stable in the figures for the year to December 2019 – bucking the national and regional trend of increased offending. They have now reduced under the previous year-end number, bucking national trends.

The success in the three key crimes comes as the force has invested in specialist teams dedicated to tackling those particular offences.

Mr Guildford added: “The force has invested heavily in a programme of recruitment of officers to the front line over the last year and this is now paying off.

“Through hard choices, efficiencies, careful planning and sustained investment by the Police and Crime Commissioner, we’ve increased our proactive capabilities, expanded ANPR and delivered a structure which delivers a service that increasingly works for local people.

“Our tough approach to enforcement has been supported with a sustained investment in grassroots level crime prevention to help our young people and support offenders out of the crime cycle. This is epitomised through our Schools Officers, the Knife and Hate crime prevention programme and our Violence Interrupters.

“We anticipate being one of a small number of forces in the county where crime has actually reduced which is a huge achievement, positive news for our officers, staff and most importantly, those we serve during these unprecedented times.”

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said the figures showed the real progress being made to make our communities safer and tackle the biggest threats to public safety.

He said: “Investment in specialist teams to tackle knife crime, burglary and robbery are paying huge dividends and this work will only expand as we welcome on-board additional recruits in the months ahead. Not only are we seeing reductions in crime in these areas but also more arrests showing the hard-line approach to enforcement is working.

“I’m very grateful for the continued support of the public who provide us with information to aid this work. While we are clearly making an impact, there is no room for complacency and I will continue to support the Chief Constable with the resources needed to push our success further.”

– Knife crime fell by eight per cent in Nottinghamshire, compared to a rise of seven per cent nationally and an increase of 13 per cent regionally. By March it had reduced by 14 per cent.
– Nottinghamshire also bucked the trend for robberies – with offences remaining at the same level as last year, while offences rose by 12 per cent nationally and by six per cent across the East Midlands. Reported robberies reduced to a level under that previously recorded by then of March this year.
– Burglaries fell by four per cent in the county and have continued to fall further ahead of the current COVID lockdown situation.
– Other key reductions for Nottinghamshire include sexual offences (down by five per cent), theft (down by four per cent) and vehicle crime (down by seven per cent). Rape offences reduced by 12 per cent by the end of March.
– Overall, the number of reported crimes increased by four per cent in the year to December 2019 – in line with the national average but continued to fall each month before moving under last year’s position by March at -0.5%.