Vale leads fight against crime (From Barry And District News)

Vale leads fight against crime

HOUSE burglaries in the Vale of Glamorgan have fallen by a massive 20 percent.

Figures released this week show that theft from homes has seen a dramatic drop, car theft has seen a huge decrease of 17.5 percent and thefts from motor vehicles has dipped by eight percent.

Violent crime was up by 1.5 percent, reflecting the national trend, but this still leaves the Vale with an impressive overall decrease in crime of 5.3 percent.

Chief Inspector Steve Siddall, of the Vale of Glamorgan division, said: "This has been an exceptionally good year for us in terms of crime reduction.

"We hope the figures (from March, 2003, to April 1, 2004) provide some reassurance to the public.

"We have achieved the results through close co-operation with our partners, the local authority, the fire and ambulance services and the health service.

"The overall crime detection rate for the Vale of Glamorgan division stands at 34.3 percent. That figure puts us ahead of all other six divisions in the South Wales force."

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Wood, of South Wales Police, said: "I am delighted that overall crime has fallen over the past year.

"South Wales Police is a safe place to live and work and our communities should be reassured that crime is falling.

"The introduction of police community support officers has enabled us to target anti-social behaviour and people now feel safer in their homes.

"PCSOs have rapidly become the eyes and ears of our communities and have freed up countless hours of police officers' time to spend in other specialist areas."

South Wales Police has also embarked on a programme to employ more civilian staff in its custody suites.

This has been designed to release the equivalent of 53 constables currently employed as jailers back into operational duties to provide extra reassurance.