Overall crime in the Burnham-On-Sea policing area has fallen by nearly 20 per cent over the past year, although burglaries have risen by 10 per cent, according to official new crime statistics just released.
The report, issued on Friday (July 25th), shows that between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008 robbery was reduced by 33% compared to the year before.
Thefts of motor vehicles are also down by 35%, violence against persons down by 28% and criminal damage down by 12.5%.
Inspector Nick Greenhalgh told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This reduction in crime is welcome news, but certainly doesn’t mean that we can sit back and relax. My team have worked really hard in the past year, but are determined to take their good work even further and have a lot of plans for the year ahead.”
He added: “There has unfortunately been an increase in certain aspects of crime in the Burnham area, with burglary up by almost 10% and thefts from motor vehicles up by 5.7%.”
“However we are planning a number of initiatives to combat these issues, for example working with members of the community and partner agencies we are planning to introduce an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera to the area. This will help us to identify and target criminals entering Burnham.”
“A number of youth diversionary schemes are also being implemented both in the Burnham and Cheddar areas and the early indication is that local support is very encouraging.”
He added that high visibility patrols have contributed to the progress made in reducing minor crime and anti-social behaviour in hot spot areas. During these patrols officers have carried out a number of alcohol seizures, issued penalty notices for disorder and made use of a new power allowing officers to order people to leave an area for a given period of time if it is likely that their presence may cause alcohol related disorder.
