This week The Press has been examining crime in our region. Today, crime reporter JENNIFER BELL looks at Selby District, Ryedale and the rest of North Yorkshire.
POLICE have been praised after exclusive figures revealed every town and city across North Yorkshire showed plummeting crime levels last year.
The Press has been examining crime figures in York and North Yorkshire using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain details of every offence committed in our region in 2010.
Already this week, we have unveiled a ward-by-ward picture of crime in York. Now we can show the true extent of crime in Selby and Ryedale and the rest of the district.
Selby was North Yorkshire’s biggest success story, with crime falling by 10.48 per cent in 2010, down from 4054 offences in 2009 to 3,629 – representing 425 fewer crimes. This is 1,135 fewer offences than in 2008 when there were 4,764 crimes across the district. It was the biggest drop across North Yorkshire.
Burglaries are down by 15.6 per cent, criminal damage is down 27.6 per cent and fraud and forgery, robbery and theft are down.
However, drug and sexual offences, violent crimes and robberies have shown a slight increase.
Steve Shaw-Wright, leader of the Labour group in Selby, said: “It has been a really good year for Selby and crime has noticeably gone down.
“I think it is a credit to the police in particular Inspector Chris Witty who listens to people’s wants and needs and responds to that. Despite cuts we are seeing more bobbies on the beat than ever and I think this helps reduce the fear and crime and prevents offences happening in the first place.””
Crime across Ryedale showed a marginal decrease – with falling crime rates in burglaries, criminal damage and drug offences. However sexual offences, theft and violent crimes were on the up.
Inspector Tim Hutchinson, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “The effort must be maintained in order to keep Ryedale the safe place it is. I would encourage residents to visit the many police surgeries that are held around the district where officers can give advice, listen to local concerns and provide a dedicated presence.
“Working together, we have concentrated on the people, issues and locations that residents tell us are their problems.”
Statistics show there were 26,674 crimes in North Yorkshire, outside York, in 2010. The figure is 2,368 lower than in 2009 and 4,117 lower than in 2008.
Of the 26,674 crimes reported last year, Scarborough topped the list with 7,259 (down from 7,973 crimes last year), followed by Harrogate (down from 7,239 crimes), then Selby with 3,629 (down from 4,054), Hambleton with 3,401 (down from 3,854), Craven with 2,070 (down from 2,150), Ryedale with 1,757 (down from 1,808) and Richmondshire with 1,726 (1,960).
Deserving thanks
ALL week we have been looking at crime levels across our region. On Wednesday, we highlighted concerns about drugs crime.
In general, however – and for the sixth year running – crime continues to fall. That is testament to the dedication of our police officers.
The North Yorkshire force’s leadership has been racked by scandal, and morale has been hit by spending cuts. But front-line officers continue to ensure we have some of the lowest crime levels in the country. They deserve our thanks.
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