A partnership committed to tackling crime in South Tyneside has seen some notable successes in reducing offences which most concern residents, councillors will be told.
South Tyneside’s Cabinet will be presented with the latest report from the Community Safety Partnership when it meets next Wednesday (13 July).
The report highlights South Tyneside as the second best performing partnership from its cluster group of 15 areas. The Partnership Board is made up of representatives from the Council, Northumbria Police, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group, National Probation Service, Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Service, South Tyneside Homes and the Youth Justice Service.
Key successes highlighted in the report are a 12 per cent fall in the number of anti-social behaviour incidents reported to the police and a 24 per cent drop in youth-related anti-social behaviour cases as well as a seven per cent drop in the number of deliberate fires over the reported period.
The number of domestic burglaries fell by 13 per cent and re-offending rates dropped by a massive 20 per cent.
More than 2,000 staff from key local business sectors have received training as part of the ongoing effort to raise awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation which has resulted in a 53 per cent rise in the number of people reporting their concerns to police.
Despite a six per cent increase in crime in South Tyneside – largely due to the introduction of new national crime reporting procedures – 98 per cent of residents in the Borough feel safe in their neighbourhood.
Councillor Moira Smith, Chair of the Community Safety Partnership, said: “After seven years of successfully reducing crime by over 43 per cent, we knew it was always going to be difficult to reduce or even maintain previous crime trends.
“However, the partnership has continued to see a fall in re-offending and cases of anti-social behaviour which we know concern our residents most.
“We will continue to target those crimes which we know have the most impact on our communities and use all the resources available to make sure South Tyneside remains a safe place for people to live in, work and visit.”
Northumbria Police Superintendent Sarah Pitt, of Southern Area Command, said: “Tackling anti-social behaviour and safeguarding vulnerable people are some of the Force’s top priorities and we are glad to see we’re having a positive impact in South Tyneside.
“Multi-agency working is the best possible way to ensure we deliver the best possible service to those living within our local communities and these results are a great example that we are on the right track.
“We have recently made changes that will protect neighbourhood policing in the region that will put safeguarding at the forefront of everything we do. Those changes will put us in the best possible position to support projects like this.”