Police winning battle against crime

CRIME continues to fall in Cheshire – with the county recording the sixth largest reduction in crime across England and Wales.
Newly released figures for the 12 months ending in December show an overall reduction in crime of 3.9 per cent.
Crimes such as theft, robbery, burglary and shoplifting continue to fall as the Constabulary continues to tackle these types of crime.
While the number of sexual offences has risen, this is thought to arise from increasing confidence shown by victims to come forward and report these crimes,
Deputy Chief Constable Janette McCormick (pictured) said: “We recently published the financial year end statistics which showed that crime in the county is down by nearly five per cent (up to the end March 2015) and is at its lowest rate since the early 1990’s.
“However, crime statistics are only part of the picture and the Constabulary is continuing to tackle crime with a number of new and large scale operations such as Operation Hatay and Crossbow – two high profile operations which targeted both wanted offenders and those using the county’s roads to commit crime.”
Operation Shield was launched at the beginning of March and is an innovative way of tackling burglary from homes and businesses with the use of a unique DNA liquid that can be used to mark property. The liquid is barely visible and is hard for offenders to see. The DNA coding is registered solely to the individuals address and is added to a database so any property found that is marked can be traced back to the rightful owners.
In addition, anyone arrested and taken into custody is scanned for traces of unique DNA liquid which means that the police can link offenders back to the burglaries they committed.
John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said: “My verdict on the Constabulary’s performance, is that they are performing well.
“It is doing more to tackle the crimes that the public tell me matter to them most and that they wanted the police to do more about. The 3.9 per cent fall in crime is a stark figure but it actually means 2,171 fewer victims of crime.
“The Constabulary has taken positive steps and introduced initiatives which target offenders but also assist the public in keeping themselves safe. By working with the public, the police can make a significant impact on people’s lives for the better and I am delighted that crime continues to fall.”