Crime down 11.6% across Humberside up to December 2020

Speaking about the latest crime statistics released, covering up to December 2020, Assistant Chief Constable Darren Downs said: “I am pleased to say that in Humberside over the last 12 months (to December 2020), we have seen a decrease in total recorded crime (excluding fraud) of 11.6%, larger than the national average of a 9.5% decrease. This is something we are very proud of, and the positive impact this will have had on our communities.

“We’ve have seen large decreases in offences such as; burglary, vehicle offences, bike theft, shoplifting, robbery, general theft and sexual offences across the Force area.

“Offences of this nature are the types which have a huge impact on victims, as they can leave them feeling violated and fearing for their safety, so I am really pleased to see that most of our communities have seen these crime types decrease.  

“We have teams dedicated to investigating offences of this nature, following every possible enquiry to identify offenders and take them off the streets to prevent further incidents.

“Where we have seen a 20% increase is for reported drug related offences, such as; possession of cannabis or controlled drugs. Within Humberside, this increase can be attributed to all of our proactive work, through Operation Galaxy, in identifying these offences, executing warrants, actively stop-and-searching more individuals and conducting targeted days of action aimed at disrupting organised criminals.

“Our Roads Crime Team was also introduced, specifically aimed at targeting those using our road networks to transport and deal illicit substances.

“These teams have successfully arrested thousands of individuals identified as causing the most harm to our communities, and have taken millions of pounds worth of drugs off the street. During the last year, Op Galaxy alone arrested over 1600 people, recovered over £6 million worth of drugs and took over 50 lethal weapons off the streets. The community feedback has shown how grateful our they are and the positive difference this has made.

“Through Humber Talking and media appeals, we have also seen an increase in community information coming through to our local policing teams. This information has been critical to the targeted action we’ve been taking and has ensured we have been investigating the crime types and people that they are most concerned about.

“We have also recorded an increase of 13.9% in the number of public order offences. Nationally this is also the picture and is mostly due to the improvements that have been made in recording practices.

“As an example, where previously an incident may have been recorded as anti-social behaviour, it may now be recorded as a public order offence such as causing public fear, alarm or distress. This offence type equates to 81% of all public order offences in our area.

“Within this group, we saw an increase in racially or religiously aggravated public order offences. Whilst understandably this is deeply concerning, we have noted an increase in these types of incidents being reported to us, mostly due to the fantastic work of our staff and the engagements we have with our diverse communities, where we have built up more trust and confidence.

“Our priority is always to protect the public and ensure we have a good understanding of our communities so that we can work closely with them to help prevent crime.

“We would always encourage people to report offences to us, so that we can investigate and take offenders off our streets, and also have the most accurate picture of what it is like in our communities.”