Offences fall by a tenth in crackdown on criminals

A CHRISTMAS crime crackdown across North Yorkshire has seen the number of offences fall by more than a tenth, with a dramatic reduction in car thefts, burglaries and drug offences.

North Yorkshire Police staged a series of high-profile operations during the festive season with increased patrols in a bid to reduce crime rates.

Officers visited nightclubs in Scarborough with a sniffer dog to track down drug dealers, while pickpockets and thieves were targeted in Skipton, Ripon, Stokesley and Great Ayton.

An operation was staged on the Cleveland and West Yorkshire borders to prevent criminals travelling from elsewhere to prey on the county. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology was used to target vehicles travelling into North Yorkshire which were linked to criminal activity.

Figures released by the force yesterday revealed that crime in North Yorkshire was down by 14 per cent during December compared to the same period in 2008.

There were 529 fewer victims of crime, with 3,310 offences recorded in December as opposed to 3,839 incidents in the same month in 2008.

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said: “Our message to criminals is a simple one, we are proud of our reputation as one of the safest counties and we will do everything in our power to keep it that way.

“Consider the county as a no-go area if you have crime on your mind.”

The latest figures have shown that vehicle crime fell by 44 per cent from 466 to 261 offences, and the number of domestic burglaries reduced by 12 per cent from 210 to 185 cases.

Drug offences were down by 19 per cent from 182 to 155 crimes, while robberies fell by an impressive 70 per cent from 10 to three offences. Thefts reduced by three per cent from 944 to 913.

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