South Yorkshire Police responds to publication of latest crime figures

Crime in South Yorkshire went up by two per cent last year, with 145,708 offences recorded, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

Nationally, there were 5,013,284 offences logged – up four per cent on the previous year.

There were 3,355 drug offences in South Yorkshire, which was a 35 per cent increase and there were 29,003 offences of violence, 1,663 possession of weapon offences and 14,689 household burglaries.

South Yorkshire’s Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts said: “While in many areas the latest crime figures reflect the tremendous work taking place in our communities, there are others where we need to maintain our focus to ensure South Yorkshire remains a place in which people can live and work safely.

“We have seen some encouraging decreases in areas including theft from the person, bike theft, shoplifting and criminal damage.

“These reductions are a reflection of the excellent work being carried out within our local neighbourhood policing teams - building meaningful relationships, identifying areas of community concern and taking a proactive, problem-solving approach to policing.

“Members of the public may be concerned to see more increases in areas including drug offences and possession of weapons. However, these increases are down to the positive results achieved through the proactive work of our specialist teams.

“Our Serious Violent Crime Taskforce, and our district Fortify teams are out there, day after day supporting local neighbourhood teams to disrupt these types of criminality and identify those who are causing misery to local people.”

He added: “Burglary has remained a priority area for the force and we have dedicated teams working both proactively and reactively to tackle the issue.

“Operation Shield, where officers visit homes to help residents to mark their valuables with a unique forensic solution, is active across all districts and in the targeted areas we have seen significant reductions.

“Meanwhile, Sheffield has its own dedicated team managing all burglary cases across the city. The team centralises intelligence to understand the working patterns of offenders, identify suspects and gather evidence.”