Crime at lowest level for 10 years

CRIME is down to the lowest level in 10 years across Greater Manchester with a drop of almost 13 per cent.

The biggest decrease is in vehicle crime, down almost a fifth compared with 2008/09, and figures from Greater Manchester Police released today show domestic burglary and robberies are also down 15 per cent.

Violence has been reduced by over 9 per cent, but serious sex crimes and other sexual offences are up slightly.

Gun crime is also at its lowest level for eight years, with a 27 per cent drop in crimes where firearms were used.

The figures were revealed when Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne visited Rochdale’s new crime-fighting hub, where officers build up local knowledge alongside neighbourhood officers, and are fed with intelligence from sources such as Crimestoppers, forensics and court staff.

The hub, which has also been rolled out in Oldham, Tameside, Salford and Bury since June, can help officers react speedily to offenders who breach bail, or to carry out warrants and use DNA or fingerprint matches to arrest suspects.

Officers hold frequent “pacesetter” meetings throughout the day to update intelligence, feedback information about wanted suspects, and follow up leads.

Mr Byrne said officers were using techniques drawn from diverse groups ranging from the Ministry of Defence’s supervision of the war in Afghanistan to local newspaper daily conferences to decide news priorities.

The crime figures were published after Greater Manchester Police was told to improve its performance by the Government’s Police Performance Steering Group earlier this year. Chief Constable Peter Fahy set out a 90-day improvement plan.



::Total crime across the region is down from 283,176 in 2008/09 to 246,416 in the year to March.

::Drug offences dropped from 12,038 to 10,883; criminal damage is down from 60,384 to 48,779; and thefts from 56,011 to 52,114.

::Home burglaries went down from 23,719 to 20,100; robberies are down from 7,065 to 5,966; and theft or taking of cars was down from 10,651 to 8,213.

::But serious sex crime was up from 2,339 to 2,368, and other sexual offences rose from 553 to 569.