John Campion: Fall in crime is 'reassuring'

John Campion, West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner, was speaking after the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed a one per cent drop in recorded crime across the force area.

There were falls in a number of offences, such as violence with injury, sexual offences, theft, burglary, vehicle offences, bicycle theft, criminal damage, drug offences and public order.

But there were increases in violence against the person, robbery, possession of weapons and computer misuse.

Knife crime has also seen a rise of around 11 per cent.

Mr Campion said: “This is again positive and reassuring news for our communities who want to be safe and feel safe.

"I will continue to ensure West Mercia Police are well resourced to tackle emerging crime types.

"Whether it be through the funding of diversionary schemes to help young people defer from involvement in crime, or investment in Smartwater and Rural and Business Officers who can help to tackle issues around shoplifting and theft, I am committed to ensuring our communities can continue to live safely.

Safer

"While we must not be complacent about the figures, I am pleased that they reflect that the overall approach is working.”

The force's assistant chief constable Martin Evans has also said the figures were positive but more work can be done.

He also spoke of specific work to tackle knife crime in Telford.

He said: "It is encouraging that overall crime has fallen slightly and there are many positives to be seen in the latest crime figures. However, there is always more that can be done to help prevent people from being victims of crime and our work to make our communities even safer will continue.

"We know there has been a rise in knife crime compared to last year which is reflected nationally, however, despite this rise the number of offences in the West Mercia force area remains relatively low compared to other towns and cities across the country. That of course does not mean we are complacent and a lot of work is on-going to reduce knife crime.

“In Telford, we recently launched a youth knife intervention programme which sees police, in partnership with other agencies, work with young people on the periphery of becoming involved in knife crime to divert them away from criminality.

"In addition to this our Youth Engagement Teams work with local schools to deliver awareness assemblies, we carry out test purchases at stores selling knives to make sure they are not being sold to anyone under the age of 18 and carry out community weapon sweeps in key locations to identify and remove any knives or sharp objects. Working in partnership with other agencies to tackle knife related incidents is crucial and we will continue to build on this approach.

"It is important the public have confidence to come forward and report crimes to us and, while this can lead to a rise in recorded crime, we would always encourage anyone who has been a victim to get in contact so we can investigate and provide support."