Crime falls across Greater Manchester

Latest quarterly figures show the most significant drop in crime in Greater Manchester for two years.

The Home Office has today revealed latest figures for the 12 months up to September 2009 and Greater Manchester saw a marked fall in most types of crime.

Greater Manchester Police has seen an overall 10% reduction in crime during that time with 16% less vehicle crime, 10% less violent crime, a 4% reduction in robbery and 1% reduction in burglary.

Between October and December 2009, compared with the same period the previous year, there were:

- 9,434 fewer victims of crime (down to 60,734 from 70,168 - a 13.4% reduction)
- 1,721 fewer victims of vehicle crime (a 17.4% reduction)
- 529 fewer victims of violent crime (a 4.8% reduction)
- 383 fewer victims of robbery (a 20.5% reduction)
- 1,058 fewer victims of domestic burglary (a 16.9% reduction.)

Chief Constable Peter Fahy said: "The figures are heading in the right direction - it is our aim to ensure that as few people as possible in Greater Manchester are victims of crime. However, there is still work to do.

"We recognise that crime is still unacceptably high and public confidence is too low and we are doing everything we can to change that.

"The figures released by the Home Office show that Greater Manchester has a lower rate of violent crime, gun crime and murder than the West Midlands and London. The rate of burglary is higher than West Midlands but lower than West Yorkshire. Despite the significant reductions in vehicle crime, this is also at a higher rate than the West Midlands although these figures need to be treated with a degree of caution due to differences in recording practises.

"We will continue to build on the success of operations like Storm and the force wide days of action in August and December, which targeted those criminals who bring misery to the lives of others.

"By targeting specific offences such as violent crime and burglary and those committing them, operations Storm and Admiral led to almost 2,000 offenders being arrested in a very short space of time and this very significant drop in our communities being blighted by them.

"This work is set to continue in 2010 with new operations Thunder and Mistral using similar tactics but focusing specifically on certain communities, targeting vehicle crime and those responsible for burglary and robbery."

Councillor Paul Murphy, chairman of Greater Manchester Police Authority, said: "It's extremely reassuring to see that the early signs of success the Force has recently been reporting to the Authority are evident in the Government statistics. It is no secret that GMPA continuously demands improvements in performance on behalf of local people and it is clear the Force response is proving effective.

"That does not mean we can or will be complacent. We still have a way to go before the Authority is satisfied that the Force is consistently achieving first-class results across the board and we'll continue to robustly scrutinise the Force and hold the Chief Constable to account as the Force strives to achieve this.

"There is no doubt there are challenging times ahead if the Force is to meet the Authority's expectations, particularly as we move towards a new policing era which requires more for less.

"The police authority has every confidence that plans such as the workforce modernisation programme, a new policing model and the provision of new police buildings and technologies are providing solid foundations of success and we are hopeful future facts and figures relating to any aspect of GMP will reflect continuous improvement which will benefit the communities of Greater Manchester."