War on crime

8:34am Friday 2nd May 2008

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THE fear of crime is something that all forces have to tackle, and Hertfordshire is no different.

But following the release of the April 2007 to April 2008 figures, it seems the good far outweighs the bad with the most reassuring statistic being the fall in violent crime.

From rapes to indecent assaults, the number of victims in Welwyn Hatfield has dropped significantly this year - by more than 35 per cent in fact.

But the the statistics are dampened somewhat by a rising number of burglaries in the area - although the increase is by no means drastic.

Inspector Paul Hart of the Welwyn Hatfield Safer Neighbourhood team insists burglaries were down until habitual offenders repeatedly struck over the last few weeks, turning the figures around.

He said: "There was a recent spate of burglaries where we targeted some prolific offenders who we suspected of the burglaries, and we managed to arrest them and that's bought it under control."

He claimed latest statistics do not portray the true extent of crime reduction in the borough anyway.

"When we look at statistics year on year it gives a flavour and no more than that," Paul said.

He said crime in the area has fallen by a quarter overall since 2004 with burglary down by a third, common assault down by 30 per cent and robbery down by 15 per cent.

He added: "It's an extremely good performance and we are very pleased but we aren't complacent - we won't take our eye off the ball."

Drug offences in the borough have also risen by more than six per cent; again not a dramatic increase particularly if we compare it to neighbouring district St Albans, which has seen drug offences double.

However the police claim this is a positive rather than negative step with Chief Inspector Simon Hawkins, of the drugs tasking and co-ordination team, saying this shows they are getting to the root of the problem in Welwyn Hatfield.

He said: "In the last year we have taken a really proactive response to drugs and we are reaping the rewards. Some people might think it's gone through the roof but really this is positive.

"You can't really compare drug offences to other offences like burglary, because for us success is based on the more numbers we get, it shows we are finding it.

"In the last year we have had more capacity to work on drugs and that is something that will continue. We are getting more information through stronger links with the community, through neighbourhood watch schemes and our Police Community Support Officers.

"People in Welwyn Hatfield are confident to tell us what they know anonymously.

This sends out a clear message that we tackle drugs robustly."

Another message that people are taking on board is the need to protect your personal information, with ID fraud always a risk.

The figures reveal that fraud and forgery have dropped by 31 per cent, but Detective Inspector Andy Theakston, of Hertfordshire Constabulary's Economic Crime Unit, warns that we should not get complacent.

He said: "We are delighted with the figures. People are becoming more aware that there is a fraud problem; there has been a lot of publicity about it from the police and the media.

"But people should not become complacent and neither will we - this type of crime has not gone away.

"Everyone still needs to take care to protect their identity and keep these figures falling."