Cromer/Sheringham crime down by almost a third
Crime has fallen by almost a third in Cromer and Sheringham over the past 16 months as police target major offenders and issues raised by local residents.
Crime has fallen by almost a third in Cromer and Sheringham over the past 16 months as police target major offenders and issues raised by local residents.
The two towns were among the best in Norfolk for their crime reduction figures, said Chief Inspector Steve Jones.
But he urged people not to be complacent just because they lived in a low crime area, where the detection rate was 35pc, well above the 26pc force average.
Taking basic precautions such as not leaving houses and cars unlocked, or valuables on display could help drive crime down even further.
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The main factor behind the drop was the policy of targeting offenders. More than 40 people had repaid their debts to society through 'restorative justice' - agreeing to put right wrongs by tasks such removing graffiti, repairing damaged buildings and litter picking.
Other sanctions included removing people's benefits, imposing curfews or getting them evicted from their housing.
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But a handful of prolific offenders who had refused help had ended up being jailed.
Chief Insp Jones said: 'People in the community want to live a peaceful life, and we do what we can to get people out of the offending cycle
'We offer support and help with housing, work and dealing with alcohol problems, but people who refuse and continue offending have gone to prison.'
Among the 52 Safer Neighbourhood Teams across Norfolk, Sheringham had the fourth best crime reduction figures and Cromer the seventh. It was also helped by communities setting the priorities for local teams.
At Cromer the amount of damage to beach huts had dropped markedly after police targeted known offenders.
Drug problems were a tenth of the level from five years ago, with some offenders having been jailed, and some died, which had also resulted in a fall in related crimes such as shoplifting.
A recent spate of purse dipping from customers' bags at a Cromer store had also been cut by the addition of CCTV and a cardboard cut-out policeman.
At Sheringham police were also tackling the ongoing problem of boy racers, and anti social behaviour in the Nelson Road area.
One in 20 reported crimes were also turning out to be made falsely by people seeking to get insurance payouts - and had resulted in several people being given fixed penalty fines for wasting police time, added Chief Insp Jones.
To contact your SNT team visit the website www.safernorfolk.co.uk, phone 0845 456 4567 or e-mail sntcromer@norfolk.pnn.police.uk or sntsheringham@norfolk.pnn.police.uk
