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Police getting tougher as violent crime rises
SERIOUS violent crime has risen in Wyre – while anti-social behaviour has dropped.
Figures for the year to August revealed a 38 per cent rise in incidents of serious violent crime for the borough compared to the previous year.
Criminal damage, including arson, increased by four per cent with 636 incidents logged so far; assault with less serious injury has gone up by 25 per cent to 303 incidents; cases of domestic abuse have seen an 18 per cent rise.
Police have launched a project known as Operation Bind to tackle incidents of violent crime.
Serious acquisitive crime, which includes some burglaries and robberies, has fallen from 343 incidents in last year to 271 this year.
Anti-social behaviour has also dropped by nine per cent to 3,638 cases this year.
Chief Inspector Tracie O'Gara, from Lancashire Police, said: "We are fully aware there has been a rise in certain areas of crime in Wyre, including incidents of violent crime.
"While the majority of these incidents are low level-crimes that have resulted in only minor injuries and often involve people who know each other, reducing these figures is still a priority for us.
"We have been carrying out a dedicated operation to tackle incidents of violent crime and this is already showing good results.
"We have seen reductions this month and we hope to see this continue in the future."
Officers across Northern Division, which covers Wyre, took part in a day-long crack down on violent crime this month with extra police patrols targeting violent offenders and people who behave
irresponsibly when drinking.
In Wyre, there were 15 stop and searches and 13 visits to
licensed premises.
Officers also gave out four youth referral forms to youngsters involved in alcohol-related incidents in Wyre and 28 people were arrested across the division.
Chief Insp O'Gara said: "We know that alcohol is a major cause of violent crime and often results in innocent people being subjected to violent and unprovoked assaults, not only in busy town centres but also in local communities and within the home.
"A lot of our activity has involved clamping down on the problems caused by alcohol and we have been paying visits to local licensees to make sure they know their role in ensuring people drink responsibly and sensibly."
Wyre Coun Graeme Cocker added: "Fortunately in Wyre the figures are low to start with but we doing our best to carry on reducing them."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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