North Wales crime reduction success as number of burglaries fall

North Wales Police (NWP) are celebrating a reduction in burglary and “neighbourhood crime”, says the chief constable.

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman gave a presentation to the North Wales Police and Crime Panel at a meeting at Bodlondeb in Conwy on Monday.

The chief gave a slide presentation of graphs and percentages and claimed burglary had fallen and that vehicle crime was amongst the lowest in England and Wales.

According to the figures in the presentation, NWP had the eighth-lowest burglary rate from 41 forces in England and Wales in the year preceding December 2022.

She said levels of burglary had fallen by 11.8% in the year preceding May 2023 and that the force had the third lowest rate of neighbourhood crime – that is burglary, vehicle crime, and theft – in England and Wales in the year before March 2023.
“Burglary has fallen in the past 12 months – a really good place to be,” she said.

“So we are seeing that figure fall away in terms of the amount (number) of burglaries we are getting and an increase in the preventative methodology we are putting around burglaries to make sure we continue to see those figures going down.

“The amount of people we are convicting has gone up. Over the last month, it has gone up remarkably, mainly because we charged eight people with conspiring to commit burglary.”

She added that this contributed to a 10.4% reduction in recorded crime year on year, and she added: “So other forces are currently looking at us to see what we are doing to see that positive outturn that we are getting.”

The chief constable said in her presentation that North Wales had the second lowest rate of recorded theft from a vehicle in England and Wales; the second lowest rate of recorded theft of a vehicle in England and Wales; and the second lowest robbery rate in England and Wales (up to March 2023).

She added: “That’s a really positive story, and that to some degree drives the public confidence that we are seeing at the moment.”

She also said a public perception survey conducted with North Wales residents in the January and February of this year revealed that:

89% of the public believe NWP treated them with respect;

74% of the public believe NWP treated everyone fairly;

88% feel safe from crime and disorder;

94% felt safe in their own home;

86% have confidence in NWP

Ms Blakeman added: “That is something for us to celebrate but not be complacent about – by continuing to do the hard yards to maintain public confidence.”

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).