Nottinghamshire Police reports fewer crimes a day as England average also drops
Crime fell by more than 50 offences a day over the last year in Nottinghamshire.
The force, which credited specialist policing teams to tackle burglary, robbery, knife crime and drugs helping drive big reductions, reported crime dropped by 17% in the 2020 calendar year — with 18,299 fewer crimes compared to the previous year.
The drop marks a sustained period of reduction in crime and means the force is outperforming the national average of 10% and the regional average of 7%. They said this shows the covid-factor is not the main reason for their success.
The force's own even more up-to-date statistics, covering the year to March 31, 2021, also show this fall continued — with all crime dropping by over a fifth.
Nottinghamshire Police set up a number of specialist teams to tackle key offences in recent years and with these officers dedicated to tackling repeat offenders in local areas across these crime types that impact on people most.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: "We have seen some of the biggest reductions have come in areas where we have introduced specialist teams to tackle offences that the public tell us matter to them most. This is exemplified by Op Reacher.
"We continue to listen to our communities and have invested carefully in the right areas to maximise our impact upon criminals and supporting victims.
"Whilst the lockdowns imposed during the coronavirus pandemic have undoubtedly had some impact on today's figures, we have seen this reduction continue over a sustained period before then, and the fact we are outperforming the national average demonstrates that we are doing things differently and getting results for our public.
"All of the officers and staff at Nottinghamshire Police work tirelessly to make the county a safe place to live, work in and visit and the support of the community is vital to this continued success."
Over five fewer homes a day were burgled in Nottinghamshire in the year to December 31, 2020, compared to the previous year, according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics. This is a drop of 1,978 burglaries (down 25%).
The force has two dedicated burglary teams operating across the city and county who are supported in tackling burglary by response and neighbourhood officers, as well as a burglary enforcement Special Constable team.
The number of robbery victims also fell by almost one a day — with offences falling by 29% (down by 354).
This shows the two robbery teams who focus on some of the most serious, often weapon-related, offending is having an impact.
Knife crime also fell by 10% as the force's knife crime team continues to have an impact - with further sustained reductions following the introduction of a second team earlier this year. The force's performance on knife crime continues to exceed the national and regional average reductions of 9% and 6% respectively.
The force also has a public protection department with teams of officers who specialise in investigating sexual offences and domestic crimes. Sexual offences fell by 19%.
Other key reductions in today's statistics include a 27% reduction in theft, a 23% drop in vehicle crime and a 7% fall in violence against the person.
