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Community Safety & Crime

Summary Points
  • The Home Office crime statistics for Merthyr Tydfil [April 2005-March 2006] shows that overall the number of ALL CRIME offences per 1,000 population was higher than the England/Wales average as follows:

Further analysis shows higher than England/Wales average for 'criminal damage' and 'vehicle and other theft' within this period.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 provided the framework for a radical new empowerment of local people in the fight against crime and disorder at a local level. Enhanced by the Police Reform Act 2002, it places a statutory responsibility on the Police, Police Authority, Local Authority, Fire Authority and Local Health Board to consider community safety as part of their core activities.

 

Working together as the Community Safety Partnership, agencies and authorities that had not previously considered crime reduction as part of their primary responsibilities are now engaged in the development and implementation of a local strategy to reduce crime.

 

The Merthyr Tydfil Community Safety Partnership has been in existence for 6 years. Working through the many requirements of the Act, emphasis has been on targeting specific problems while taking account of the bigger picture in terms of economic, social and environmental influences that all coincide to impact on the level of crime and disorder within the County Borough and this has been formalised as the Community Safety Strategy.

The primary aim of the strategy is to enhance the quality of life of residents, visitors and those who work or invest in Merthyr Tydfil by improving community safety and reducing the fear of crime. The strategy identifies an overall crime reduction target, "To reduce crime in Merthyr Tydfil by 19% by March 2008" and a series of sub targets.

 

The Home Office Crime Statistics for Merthyr Tydfil [April 2005-March 2006] show that for:

 

ALL CRIME - the number of offences per 1,000 population was above the England/Wales average as shown in the chart below.

 

 

 

Further analysis shows higher than England/Wales average for 'criminal damage' and 'vehicle and other theft' within this period as follows:

Useful Links

Home Office -Crime

Crime in England and Wales 2006-07

South Wales Police

National Statistics Online

Safer Merthyr Tydfil Homesafe Scheme