Crime drop means safer streets (From Witney Gazette)

Crime drop means safer streets

9:00am Wednesday 5th April 2006 in Witney By Andrew Alexander

CRIME in West Oxfordshire has fallen by 5.1 per cent in the past year, according to new police figures.

The figures, which still have to be audited by the Home Office, indicate the number of crimes reported to police, committed between April 1 last year and last Friday, fell from 2,819 to 2,676. If agreed by auditors next month, it means Thames Valley Police have successfully reversed a 2.6 per cent rise in crime, recorded last year.

The data comes from the British Crime Survey, which measures criminal acts by asking a sample of people about their experiences of crime. It is designed to record even those smaller crimes which are not reported to police, and is being used as a standard measure nationwide.

West Oxfordshire commander, Chief Insp Dennis Evernden, said: "We've targeted resources at burglary, vehicle crime, and violence, as well as tackling quality-of-life offences, like criminal damage.

"We've identified persistent offenders and have targeted patrols, in a bid to tackle anti-social behaviour in each neighbourhood action group area."

A breakdown showing which offences are more and less common will not be available until later this month.

"We've targeted resources at burglary, vehicle crime, and violence, as well as tackling quality-of-life offences, like criminal damage."

Chief Insp Dennis Evernden

The West Oxfordshire Community Safety Partnership, a group made up of the police, West Oxfordshire District Council, and other agencies like Oxfordshire trading standards, this week announced it was testing the idea of no-cold-calling zones.

The scheme, the first of its kind in Oxfordshire, uses signs in the street and stickers on doors, asking door-to-door salesmen to stay away, and is designed to reduce the fear of crime and cut distraction burglaries. It is being tested in Rosamund Road, Woodstock, and could spread across the district if successful.

Crime reduction adviser, Bill Butcher, said: "Should anyone still decide to call at homes within the zone, then they should be treated with suspicion, and trading standards or the police called."

He said many vulnerable people often felt threatened by cold callers and obliged to buy things like dusters, while more serious problems involved rogue traders, offering to carry out jobs. Judith Johnson, from Oxfordshire trading standards, said: "The idea is to empower the householder to feel they can say no, and to feel like the rest of their neighbourhood supports them."

West Oxfordshire has increasingly become a testing ground for new approaches by Thames Valley Police.

The district is covered by a number of neighbourhood action groups, teams of local officers, who meet residents to try to tackle problems like antisocial behaviour or speeding issues which affect quality of life, but may not even be a crime.

Last month, the police announced they would be taking a zero-tolerance approach to criminal damage, no matter how small the incident.