Crime falls in county (From Warrington Guardian)

Crime falls in county

CRIME is down in Cheshire, according to figures just released.

There was an eight per cent decrease in the number of crimes recorded in Cheshire between July and September 2004, compared with the same period last year.

The statistics were revealed by Chief Constable Peter Fahy in his quarterly report to the Cheshire Police Authority.

He said serious assaults, muggings and business robbery was down, however common assault and harassment figures were up.

Mr Fahy said: "We are seeing greater effect of abuse of alcohol and chaotic relations.

"There are a lot of cases where the victim refuses to make a complaint. A number of very serious cases don't ever enter the justice system because of that reason."

Life-threatening and gun crime was down 11 per cent and burglaries were down, while detection rates were up from 23 per cent to 25 per cent and there was a 23 per cent decrease in vehicle crime.

There was an increase of 20 per cent in the number of offences relating to the supply of class A drugs, with 30 per cent relating to cocaine and 30 per cent related to heroin.