Crime down, fewer crimes resolved

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton speaking to BBC Newsline's Donna Traynor

Police say there has been a substantial reduction in the number of crimes committed in NI during the past year.

All crime - including violent crimes, robberies and burglaries - have fallen by 10.5%, the lowest level since 1999.

However, just one-fifth of crimes were resolved, a drop of 3.1% on last year.

It was the first set of annual crime figures to be published since Sinn Fein joined the Policing Board and encouraged people to back the police.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton said the drop in crime rates was part of a continuing downward trend.

"This year it has fallen by 10.5% which is a substantial decrease and is testament to the work of police officers throughout Northern Ireland who have been working determinedly to drive crime down," he said.

"Police officers in all areas have been working with local communities to listen to their concerns about crime and working in partnership to tackle those problems."

According to the police's figures for 2007/08:

• Overall crime dropped 10.5%;
• Total number of crimes down 12,676 to 108,468 - the lowest level since 1998/99;
• Clear-up rates dropped 3.1% to 20.6%;
• Violent crime down by 7.7%,
• Robberies reduced by 27.4%;
• Criminal damage down by 14.9%;
• A 1.1% increase in sexual offences but 11.4% decrease in reported rapes;
• Burglaries up by 1.2%, but 1.7% fewer domestic burglaries;
• Drop in the overall number of domestic crimes and hate crimes;
• Fewer racist and sectarian attacks;
• Attacks on people with disabilities up 61.5% with 16 offences.

Mr Leighton said the fall in the number of crimes being solved was partly due to a new way of counting introduced by the government.

He said in 2007 the Home Office restricted the ranges of clearance types available to police which meant that "virtually all clearances resulting in no further action - as in the case of a complainant declining to prosecute - could not be claimed as a valid clearance."

Policing Board chairman Sir Desmond Rea said the "low overall clearance rate remains a cause for concern".

He said they had set a "challenging target" to improve this by 5% between 2008 and 2011.

He added: "The fact that the 2007/2008 recorded crime statistics are the lowest recorded since the counting rules were revised in 1998/1999 is very welcome and surpasses the target set in the 2007-2010 Policing Plan."