POLICE are winning the battle against anti-social crime and criminal damage in Wrexham.
The second quarter of this year – the latest for which figures are available – saw large reductions in certain categories of anti-social incidents and crimes – some by more than 20 per cent, between July 1 and September 30.
The good news figures are revealed in a report by Wrexham Council’s strategic and performance director Lee Robinson to Wednesday’s meeting of the corporate governance and policy scrutiny committee, which details the performance of the county’s network of 49 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).
Dealing with anti-social behaviour incidents – including rowdy nuisance, abandoned vehicles, begging and vagrancy and hoax emergency calls – the report shows an overall reduction across the county of 8.1 per cent, which reflects a fall to 4,161 incidents this July-September from 4,528 during the comparable period last year.
In the Wrexham town area there was a drop of five per cent, from 2,118 incidents in July-September of 2010 to 2,012.
The same category saw a reduction of 10.8 per cent in the Wrexham rural area, from 2,410 to 2,149.
The reductions are even greater when it comes to the more serious category of anti-social crimes, which include arson, common assault, criminal damage and drug offences.
Across the county of Wrexham there was an overall fall of 20.9 per cent this July-September, from 4,668 to 3,694.
In Wrexham town the reduction was 15.5 per cent, from 2,371 to 2,004.
And in Wrexham rural the number of incidents recorded dropped by 26.4 per cent, from 2,297 to 1,690.
The report also reveals that as of October 14, Wrexham county has seen a reduction of 11.7 per cent in criminal damage offences compared to this time last year.
This equates to 150 less offences.
The county also has the highest detection rate for this type of offence in the North Wales Police force area and currently stands at 23.4 per cent.
Acting inspector Nick Evans, who is in charge of policing Wrexham town centre, said: “We are very pleased with the figures and although all the local officers have played a part in this credit must go to the PCSOs.
“These are the type of incidents and crimes that affect people on an everyday basis and PCSOs are tasked to get a grip of them - that is what they are doing.”
He added: “With the help of partners, such as the local council, we are also targeting repeat offenders and known hotspots and this is also helping to reduce the figures.”