Police hail major fall in Nottinghamshire crime rate

Robberies, sexual offences, violence and other serious crimes have all fallen significantly in the figures, covering nearly all of the last financial year, April 1, 2020 to March 21, 2021.

The numbers, collated internally by Nottinghamshire Police, show an overall reduction in crime of 21.6 per cent compared with previous 12 months and give a complete overview of crimes committed during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Robberies fell by 36.2 per cent, burglary offences by 35 per cent and theft by 32 per cent.

Offences of violence resulting in injury fell by 25.9 per cent and domestic violence fell by 9.1 per cent.

Drug offences were down by 9.9 per cent and knife crime has continued to fall thanks to a huge team effort involving partners and the violence reduction unit (VRU).

It is now under the national average which is a significant outcome.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “Although the national lockdowns have clearly had some impact on these numbers, they also reflect the success of several ongoing initiatives.

"These include our two specialist knife crime teams that are relentlessly targeting criminals who carry weapons on our streets, our 12 Operation Reacher teams that have done so much to disrupt the supply of drugs, and the work of our specialist robbery, burglary and organised crime teams.

“The significant fall in offences of violence is also reflective on the ongoing collaborative of our VUR."

Paddy Tipping, Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, added: This is reassuring news for the whole community.

"It is clear to see that the increase in officer numbers and investment in specialist teams, such as the two knife crime teams and the VRU, are making an impact.

"The police have had to deal with a relentless succession of changes and challenges this year on top of what might be described as normal workload.

"These figures illustrate that the commitment to drive down crime and keep people safe is undiminished.

“We said that there would be more officers and less crime and that is exactly what we are seeing here.”