24 October 2007
A report from Eastbourne’s Crime Reduction Partnership (CRP) to the Council’s Cabinet committee confirmed that crime has decreased in Eastbourne by 10% during the last 12 months (up to and including August 2007) compared to the previous 12 months and that Eastbourne’s Policing District has been the most successful at detecting crime, therefore bringing more offenders to Justice in percentage terms, than any other Policing District in East and West Sussex.
A 28% reduction in Burglaries and a 30% reduction in Personal Robberies over the year were reported, as well as encouraging reductions in Violent and Public Space Violent Crime.
Cllr Margaret Bannister, member of the CRP, commented, “We are clearly seeing the impact of effective partnership working in reducing crime in Eastbourne. We are not complacent however, and as a Council, we will continue to support the CRP and key partners, such as the Police, in their efforts to tackle crime as well as the fear of crime in Eastbourne.”
The report also identified significant reductions in car crime during the past 12 months.
- Theft of a vehicle is down 42%
- Theft from a vehicle is down 53%
- Vehicle interference and tampering is down 65%
The large steps forward that have been made in reducing crime in Eastbourne have been recognised by the Government Office for the South East (GOSE). They have written to Eastbourne’s CRP praising the reductions and have highlighted examples on their website.
Neil Fuller, Chair of Eastbourne’s CRP, commented, “As a partnership we have identified key risks and are putting in place the necessary structures to make Eastbourne an even safer place to live, work and visit. Over coming months we intend to work more closely with local communities to drive further improvements as well as tackle the fear of crime.”
The report confirmed that under the command of Chief Inspector Dick Coates, dedicated teams will be continuing to work on certain key areas such as tackling drugs and drug related crime in Eastbourne. Another key target was identified as reducing crime in Devonshire ward which currently suffers the highest crime rate in the town.
