Minister welcomes crime fall

Friday 03 January 2014

The third consecutive year of falling crime figures has been described as ‘excellent news’ by Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand.

The States of Jersey Police have released figures showing a drop of almost 18% in recorded crime in 2013. The level is now down by 34% over the last three years having dropped from around 12 per day in 2010 to less than nine per day last year. The recorded crime figures are based on standard criteria used across the UK.

They do not include speeding offences or some low-level public disorder offences because different forces treat them in different ways.

Senator Le Marquand praised the States of Jersey Police force under Police chief Mike Bowron and said that the continuing reduction reflected not just the excellent work that officers had done over the last 12 months, but also changing social patterns.

Detailed crime figures will be released in the coming weeks, but Senator Le Marquand said that youth crime had reduced partly because young people were spending more time online, and that trends in drug offending had shifted away from offences involving class ‘A’ drugs such as heroin and ecstasy, and towards newer synthetic drugs that used to be known as ‘legal highs’.

‘The most recent figures show this reduction pretty much across the board except in the area of serious violence,’ said Senator Le Marquand, who said that even where reports of violence within the home did not lead to a prosecution they helped to inform the police about the circumstances of vulnerable people.

‘Serious violence figures were up, but that was because of increased reporting of domestic violence.

‘That is a success story. The Police have made efforts to encourage people to come forward earlier with information about assaults within the home.’