This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7403920.stm

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Crime and clear-up rates down Crime down, fewer crimes resolved
(about 4 hours later)
A report to be published by the police later is expected to show a substantial reduction in the number of crimes committed in NI during the past year. Police say there has been a substantial reduction in the number of crimes committed in NI during the past year.
It will be the first time annual crime figures have been published since Sinn Fein joined the Policing Board. All crime - including violent crimes, robberies and burglaries - have fallen by 10.5%, the lowest level since 1999.
They are expected to show that all crime - including violent crimes, robberies and burglaries - have fallen by more than 10%. However, just one-fifth of crimes were resolved, a drop of 3.1% on last year.
However, clear-up rates are also expected to have fallen. It was the first set of annual crime figures to be published since Sinn Fein joined the Policing Board and encouraged people to back the police.
It is predicted that the relevant figures will show that in the past year officers have only managed to solve around 20% of crimes. Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton said the drop in crime rates was part of a continuing downward trend.
The police argue that this is partly because of a change in Home Office counting rules. "This year it has fallen by 10.5% which is a substantial decrease and is testament to the work of police officers throughout Northern Ireland who have been working determinedly to drive crime down," he said.
But that is unlikely to satisfy members of the Policing Board, who have been demanding an improvement. "Police officers in all areas have been working with local communities to listen to their concerns about crime and working in partnership to tackle those problems."
    class="bulletList">
According to the police's figures for 2007/08:
  • Overall crime dropped 10.5%;
  • Total number of crimes down 12,676 to 108,468 - the lowest level since 1998/99;
  • Clear-up rates dropped 3.1% to 20.6%;
  • Violent crime down by 7.7%,
  • Robberies reduced by 27.4%;
  • Criminal damage down by 14.9%;
  • A 1.1% increase in sexual offences but 11.4% decrease in reported rapes;
  • Burglaries up by 1.2%, but 1.7% fewer domestic burglaries;
  • Drop in the overall number of domestic crimes and hate crimes;
  • Fewer racist and sectarian attacks;
  • Attacks on people with disabilities up 61.5% with 16 offences.
Mr Leighton said the fall in the number of crimes being solved was partly due to a new way of counting introduced by the government.
He said in 2007 the Home Office restricted the ranges of clearance types available to police which meant that "virtually all clearances resulting in no further action - as in the case of a complainant declining to prosecute - could not be claimed as a valid clearance."
BBC NI home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney said this was unlikely to satisfy members of the Policing Board, who have been demanding an improvement.