Report from Area Commander in relation to Police performance for 1st April 2008 to 30th June 2008 against the local policing plan
3_month_report_from_psni-2.doc
In the first Domain Area: Tackling Crime, the target was to reduce the number of assaults. There has been a decrease of 27 incidents from 239 to 212; this represents a decrease of 11%. This builds on our progress during the previous year is very encouraging as it indicates that we are making genuine and sustainable progress. Given that last year went against a trend of year on year increases such a positive start to this year suggests that the strategies and tactics that we are using are working in a sustainable way. The policing plan target has been achieved and exceeded.
Turning now to Domestic Burglary: In this area we have seen a decrease in the number of Domestic Burglaries
from 73 last year to 45 this year. This represents an decrease of 27 burglaries representing 37%. The partnership will recall that this time last year we were report we were facing an increase of some 39% and I undertook to focus in this area with a view to reducing that deficit. I am therefore delighted that last years increase has not re-occurred. The level of Domestic burglary in North Down is now extremely low and is directly impacting on very few people. That said when it does happen it is very a invasive crime with significant impact on victims. Despite the relatively low level of burglaries the detection rate in the area of Domestic Burglary is 13% which is the highest in the District and second highest in the service. The policing plan target has been met and exceeded. I would emphasise that we must all continue to be vigilant. I would appeal to people to make it difficult by locking doors and windows, marking and recording property and reporting anything suspicious at the earliest opportunity.
LOOK OUT FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR NEIGHBOURS
The third target is to increase the number of drug Seizures. This is a new target that I have included in this years policing plan. The misuse of dugs and the impact that it can have on communities not be under-estimated. It is not always visible and can pervade through an area in many different ways. It can destroy peoples lives, it can lead to debt and can perpetuate other forms of criminality. It is for these reasons that I have made it a policing plan priority. This year we have maintained the number of seizures. I can advise that the seizures that we have made have been more substantial. We have recovered a variety of cannabis based drugs, amphetimines and there has been one heroin seizures. I can inform the partnership that our pro-activity in this area does continue into the second quarter and there have been further and in some cases significant seizures. I would appeal to the public to report any illegal activity to my officers or alternatively use the confidential crime stoppers facility. Please contact us and do not leave it to someone else to take the initiative.
In the Domain area of Promoting Community Safety we have recorded 1210 incidents of anti-social behaviour compared with 1396 in the same period last year. This represents a reduction of some 186 and again is very encouraging and meets the target of a 5% reduction. Whilst I am very pleased that we have achieved this target and there has been a reduction in the number of recorded incidents I am very conscious that there is a vast amount that still needs done. My officers and I are in regular contact with Members and Councillors on this issue. We have a comprehensive anti-social behaviour strategy in place for the whole District and have worked at this very actively during the first three months of this year. Our Neighbourhood teams will continue to work with local people and other partners to solve local problems. We have made a very concerted effort to address problems associated with Alcohol and Operation Snapper has continued to take place over the Summer months., Whilst we are achieving the target I do accept that Anti-social Behaviour is wide-ranging and does affect many people in many different ways. I also accept that we cannot solve all of the problems all of the time but we do try to tackle as many of the issues as possible. We will continue to need broad community and inter-agency support in order to maximise progress in this area. I would urge people to continue to let us know about the problems they are experiencing because we certainly cannot help to solve those issues that we don not know about. One of the next periods for increases in Anti-social behaviour is the Halloween period and we are already planning for that period.
The next and associated target in this area is Criminal Damage. There has been a decrease of 56 incidents from 281 to 225 when compared with the same period last year. This represents a decrease of 56 incidents and is a very substantial decrease. On a similar vein to what I said in relation to assaults I find this encouraging. Last year saw significant reductions in criminal damage against a previous trend of increases. This again suggests that we are achieving sustainable progress. The policing plan target has been achieved and exceeded. (almost 20% decrease)
In relation to the target of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads I regret to advise members that official figures are not yet available in relation to serious injuries. I can advise members that there have been no fatalities this year to date.
I have personally spoken to our Principal Statistician and he has assured me that procedures are in place to have the figures for the first 3 months of this year made available in time for the next meeting. In fact the target is to have those figures available for October. As soon as we receive the figures they will be forwarded to the DPP Manager.
I am aware of the frustrations that members have around this as we experienced this problem throughout last year. I can now update all members on last years figures.
There were no fatalities
There were 233 Collisions recorded. Compared to 242 the Previous financial year. A reduction of 9 collisions
There were 21 that resulted in Serious Injury compared with 32 the previous financial year. A reduction of 11.
There were 212 that resulted in minor injury compared with 208 the prvious year, an increase of 4
In terms of the number of overall casualties that reduced from 381 in 06/07 to 347 in 07/08. This is encouraging as the overall aim is to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured but casualty reduction is an important issue.
Mr Chairman I do want to make a specific appeal in relation to Roads policing. I have become aware that a number of drivers having been detected speeding on the Bangor to Newtownards Dual carriageway. Some of the speeds detected have been quite high, examples being Restricted Drivers travelling in excess of 80mph and another speed in excess of 100mph. I would therefore appeal to drivers to adhere to the speed limit on that route and I would also advise that enforcement will continue.
SECTION 2 of the report summarises the Police Performance against the targets and as you can see 4 out 5 of them are being achieved. The Drugs Target is the same as last year.
Section 3 provides a summary of recorded crime and clearance rates for the Area. Our clearance rate for all crimes has improved on last years figure by a margine of 1.5%. This is considerably higher than the District, Regional and Service average.
Section 4 outlines some of the Policing with the community Initiatives that either have been or are aimed at the Policing Plan targets.
Mr Chairman – In May this year I provided the 12 month report which highlighted significant reductions in a number of the Priority areas and the fact that the progress that we had made would be difficult to sustain. I am pleased that that progress has been sustained and indeed surpassed and that is a very positive indication as to the level of crime in this area. An obvious comparator for North Down has to be the neighbouring geographical areas and we are continuing to perform very well within the District and regional context.
Finally Chairman, this as you know is my last meeting as Area Commander. I want to say that it has been a tremendous privilege to serve in that role for the last two years and I want to thank all those who have worked with the police during that time, NORTH DOWN BOROUGH COUNCIL, and THE DISTRICT POLICING PARTNERSHIP in particular. Chief Inspector McEwan and I have spent a large part of the last week together and there should be a smooth handover. Mark knows the area and is very keen to progress the policing service in North Down.