The latest crime statistics for the east Kent area, including the Canterbury and Thanet districts, show that all crime has fallen by 21.3 per cent.

The figures, released by the Home Office on Thursday 21 January cover the period of July to September 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.

The total number of recorded crimes across east Kent for July to September 2009 was 4,493, compared to 5,706 in the same three-month period in 2008, a decrease of 1,213 crimes.

Crime reductions 

One of the biggest falls was in violent crime, a category including sexual offences, robbery and violence with or without injury. There were 322 fewer crimes of violence recorded than in the previous year, with robbery halving from 85 crimes in July to September 2008 to 41 crimes in the same period this year.

Criminal damage fell by 409 crimes from 1,349 to 940 (down by 30.3 per cent). Burglary of homes and other premises such as outbuildings or businesses was down from 643 recorded crimes to 470 and car crime was down from 483 to 443. Fraud and forgery offences fell by 11 offences from 135 to 124.

Room for improvement

One of the two areas showing an increase was the theft of bicycles – up from 146 offences in 2008 to 172 offences in 2009 (a 17.8 per cent increase).

The number of drugs offences also increased, by 18 offences from 143 to 161 (a 12.6 per cent rise).

Improving life for local communities

Deputy Area Commander for police in east Kent, Superintendent Stuart Kehily said: 'This sizeable decrease in recorded crime reflects what officers and staff in east Kent are doing to improve life for local communities.

'There were 90 fewer homes burgled and 80 fewer people were injured as a result of violent crime during this three-month period as compared to last year.

'These figures show that we are doing a good job for the local community. We are never complacent, however, there are always areas where we can do better and work is already underway to ensure that the bicycle theft increase becomes a decrease next year.'

Posted on: 2 February 2010