Residents have increasing public confidence and satisfaction with there local police officers West Yorkshire Police Authority can reveal.
The performance of the Force was being scrutinsed by the Strategic Performance and Planning Committee this morning in Wakefield.
Between January and March 2011 well over half of all residents believe that police do a good or excellent job in their local area and almost 80% of residents have said they are satisfied with the way antisocial behaviour is tackled where they live.
The committee can also report how the most serious violent crimes have been reduced by almost 10% and nearly 40% of these offenders are brought to justice. It was also highlighted that over 1000 fewer victims of assault have been reported.
Committee members are continuing to monitor the levels of burglary within West Yorkshire and the work which is ongoing to combat the problem and again we are seeing fewer victims compared with last year. Burglary is down 4.1% and overall acquisitive crime which includes burglary, robbery and vehicle crime has fallen by 3.3%. This is 1599 fewer victims of crime.
It is the role of the committee to monitor how savings are being made in order to meet the reductions in budgets over the next few years and the £15m which was needed to be saved in the last financial year has been achieved.
Despite the fact that many crime areas have seen reductions between January and March 2011 compared with the same period last year, committee members have noted that overall crime has risen by 2.1%
Chair of the Committee Ann Liston said: “The performance of the Force is closely monitored by the committee to ensure that people who live and work within West Yorkshire’s communities receive the best possible service from their police force.
“It is always pleasing for us to be able to talk about reductions in crimes therefore fewer victims; however there is always work which can be done to improve this even further.
“It is important that we can continue our scrutiny role but also work alongside the Force so we can actively ensure residents have confidence in their local police officers.”
Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton said: “The reductions in crimes such as burglary, robbery, vehicle crime and also the ever increasing confidence the public have in us to tackle crime within their communities is pleasing to see.
“We do however acknowledge the slight increase in the overall number of crime reports to us within this three month period compared with last year. It is still worth remembering that crime is at the lowest levels its been since recording began and that overall for the year 2010/11 we did see 7735 fewer victims.
“We always continuously strive ensure that West Yorkshire is a safe place to live and work and the neighbourhood policing teams who work within the heart of local communities are tackling community concerns with long term results.”
