Crime levels reducing faster in Wirral than almost every other area of England and Wales

Sep 3 2008 by Sue McCann, Neston News

THE level of reported volume crime is reducing faster in Wirral than almost any other area of England and Wales, figures have shown.

In the first quarter of this year, Wirral reported the second biggest reduction in crimes such as burglary, vehicle crime, violence and criminal damage compared to the same period last year.

The figures are a further demonstration of what is more than three years of achievement by Wirral’s Joint Community Safety Team in meeting the government’s PSA1 target for crime reduction.

The achievements were recently acknowledged by the Home Office, which invited members of the Wirral team to a reception celebrating the most successful crime reduction partnerships in the country.

According to statistics, volume crime in Wirral dropped by 32% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2007. Only the crime reduction partnership in mid-Devon bettered this performance out of 424 partnerships in the country.

Over the past three years, Wirral’s Joint Community Safety Team, which brings together staff from Wirral Council, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, probation and Wirral PCT, has far exceeded its PSA1 targets – the target was 20%, but the figures showed a 40% reduction.

Since April this year there have been the lowest monthly recorded totals since 2003 for burglaries to people’s homes and the theft of motor vehicles.

Between May and July 2008, Wirral has been the best performing local authority of all 19 North West authorities, according to the British Crime Survey comparator crime figures.

Steve McGilvray, manager of the Joint Community Safety Team, said the success was down to the ability of staff from all agencies to work together.

He said: “The fact that we are all under one roof, I’m sure, has been a big factor in the level of crime reduction in Wirral.

“Our work is intelligence-led where all the agencies share and analyse crime data and target our attention on the areas where it is most needed - that’s how we get results.”