Dyfed-Powys Police area among safest as crime rate drops

Crime across the Dyfed-Powys Police area fell by 2.6 per cent and anti-social behaviour by almost a fifth over the past year, making it the safest place to live and work in England and Wales.

Chief Constable Ian Arundale said there were 563 fewer victims of crime than in the previous years.

“This area remains by far and away the safest place to live, work or visit throughout England and Wales,” he said.

“When you add to this the fact that nearly half of all the crimes reported to us were detected, it is fairly obvious why criminals should think twice about committing crime in mid and west Wales.”

But the chief constable, who steps down from his post in June, said as budget cuts continued to bite and other major changes to policing were introduced, maintaining the excellent performance that had been associated with Dyfed-Powys Police should not be taken for granted.

Fraud and forgery was the only major increase, up 35.4 per cent.

“In recent times we have started to identify trends of increases in fraud and forgery, shoplifting, metal thefts and other general thefts largely linked to the economic downturn and this is something that I know senior officers are looking to tackle,” he said.

“In addition, we are still having to make significant cuts to our budget whilst preparing for the election of our first Police and Crime Commissioner on November 15.

“This represents a huge change for us and gives you the opportunity to go to the polls and elect one person who will be responsible for the delivery of policing across the whole of our force area,” he added.

The police force also saw an increase in drug offences, up 16.3 per cent, but said this reflected increased police proactivity in tackling offences of this type.

During 2011/12, total violent crime was down 5.2 per cent (297 offences), domestic burglary down 6.5 per cent (39 offences), other burglary down 8.4 per cent (106 offences), vehicle crime down 16.2 per cent (227 offences), general theft down 3.5 per cent (162 offences), criminal damage down 6.3 per cent (279 offences), and fraud and forgery up 35.4 per cent (166 offences).