Police: “North Wales Remains One Of The Safest Places To Live”

New crime stats have been released showing a range of changes, with police commenting that people can be ‘reassured that North Wales remains one of the safest places to live’.

Commenting on the recently released Office for National Statistics crime figures for the year to September 2016, North Wales Police Detective Chief Superintendent Wayne Jones said; “North Wales Police remains firmly committed to keeping our communities safe, tackling crime and improving public confidence.

“I am pleased to see that drug offences have fallen by 19.4%, burglaries of non-domestic properties, such as sheds and garages by 16.5%, while there have also been decreases in theft offences of 2.4%, household burglaries by 1.3%, bicycle theft by19.3% and vehicle crime by 6.3%.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show 1694 sex related crimes were reported to North Wales Police in the 12 months to September 2016, over a thousand more than the equivalent period in 2012.

The region saw another huge spike in the number of sex offences reported to police in 2016, up by 38.2% on the previous year and the greatest increase in the whole of the UK.

North Wales Police Detective Chief Superintendent Wayne Jones said, “Although the reporting of sexual offences rose by 38.2%, this is a reflection of the increasing confidence of victims to report such crimes to the police.

“We have significantly increased specialist resources to deal with these types of crime and provide on-going care and support to victims.

“This approach is working, with more people than ever willing to come forward in the knowledge that North Wales Police will investigate, will treat victims sensitively and will offer them support throughout the process.

“We have increased resources in our Amethyst team, which investigates rape offences and invested in our Onyx team which coordinates investigations into child sexual exploitation. We have also expanded our capacity to investigate offences online.

“By being proactive in this way, we are investigating more offences and protecting the most vulnerable victims in society.

“We are putting continued emphasis on investigating all forms of domestic abuse so that we increase the trust and confidence of victims to come forward and we work closely with partner agencies to provide victims with support.

“Despite an overall increase in crime of 7.8% to September 2016, the rise in our area is below the 8.8 % England and Wales average.

“Residents can be reassured that North Wales remains one of the safest places to live. The risk of being a victim of household crime is the second lowest in England and Wales, while the risk of crime against the person is 2.3% or the third lowest in England and Wales.”

“We are committed to doing everything we can to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Our excellent relationship with local people, which is significantly helped through our Safer Neighbourhood Policing teams, means that people are more willing to pass information to us to help us bring offenders to justice.”