Police hail fall in crime figures

Around 160,000 crimes were reported in Wales in the past year

Recorded crime in Wales has fallen by 3%, according to figures released by the Home Office.

Burglaries are down by 10% and violent crime fell by 1%. Theft and handling stolen goods also fell 5%, according to the Recorded Crime Statistics (RCS).

Figures also show all four of Wales' police forces have lower than average crime levels for Wales and England.

Overall, 161,000 crimes were recorded and the fall was welcomed by senior police officers.

According to the British Crime Survey (BCS) and the RCS, which are published on Thursday, Wales is doing better than most parts of Britain in the fight against crime.

Total recorded offences fell faster in Wales than the average for the whole of Wales and England.

RECORDED CRIME BY FORCE Dyfed-Powys fell 10% Gwent fell 6% North Wales fell 7% South Wales fell 0.2% Source: Estimated RCS figures, released by Home Office

Burglaries were down by 10%, violent crime by 1% and there was a 3% drop in vehicle offences.

The figures also show that Dyfed-Powys Police had the lowest rate of recorded crime in Wales and South Wales Police the highest.

In 2005/06, there were 161,211 recorded crimes according to the statistics.

Dyfed-Powys recorded the largest percentage decrease at 10%, while South Wales recorded a 0.2% fall in overall offences compared to 2004/5.

South Wales Police said the risk of falling victim to a crime was 13.6% lower than it was three years ago.

Senior officers said the figures are testament to the hard work of their staff and of local communities in stamping out crime.

Dave Francis, deputy chief constable of South Wales Police, said: "These figures highlight the efforts we, and the communities of south Wales have made to improve the safety of our communities.

"In our two main cities, Cardiff and Swansea, specialist operations have helped reduce crimes."