19 January 2012

Norfolk is officially the safest county in England according to Home Office figures released today and they show the county is becoming safer.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Bailey said the crime performance figures were very good news that was reassuring for everyone. He explained that following a short period where Devon and Cornwall equalled Norfolk’s low crime rate, Norfolk had once again come out on top with a crime rate of 50 crimes per 1,000 population.

"For the majority of crime categories, Norfolk has seen reductions"

DCC Simon Bailey

“The Force continues to do well and, whilst we will never be complacent, we are delighted that hard work and effective partnership working with local authorities and the public is paying off.

“The national average crime rate is 66 crimes per 1,000 population – we have a significantly lower rate (50 per 1,000). We aim to maintain this and to continue to impact on the crimes that cause most distress and harm to people,” he continued.

DCC Bailey was particularly pleased with the news that Norfolk officers are detecting more crimes than ever – Norfolk has the sixth highest detection rate in the country.

Topline results show that:

• Crime has decreased by 1% - a reduction of 418 crimes from 43,115 to 42,697 
• Out of 33 detection categories measured, Norfolk is in the top ten highest detection rates in 26 categories
• For serious acquisitive crime, Norfolk has the second fewest crimes with just six crimes per 1,000 population.

Continued DCC Bailey, "We should bear in mind that Norfolk has been a low crime county for a number of years now. This means it is even harder for us to continue to reduce crime but that is what we are demonstrating today.

“For the majority of crime categories, Norfolk has seen reductions. Where there have been increases, we have looked at why this may be the case and the analysis proves helpful in understanding the bigger picture.

“There are some categories of crime that people are reluctant to report. These are often related to domestic violence and we are actively working to encourage people to report these crimes so we can better understand them and, ultimately, take measures to break the cycle.

“Equally, there are some crimes which are only reported as a result of positive action taken by Police. These crimes are often the result of searches carried out by officers and include possession of drugs or weapons with intent to do harm.

“Crime is more complex than may first appear and therefore, like all statistics, we do need to fully understand what the numbers actually mean. We take pride in doing that because that is what helps us to best keep Norfolk’s people safe.”