Crime Rates Escalate

11.42.54am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 26th Aug 2005

Councillor Briggs 'action against crime'

Distribution of a survey to every household in Baildon over the past few weeks brought back the key message that more needs to be done by the Police, the Council and the Community itself to prevent crime.

Results show that 50 per cent of residents felt that crime had increased over the past year along with the claim that more police are needed.

One third of locals questioned about whether they had been victims of crime in the last 12 months responded with Yes, crimes being mainly burglaries, vehicle theft and associated vandalism.

Most shocking of all a significant 10 per cent who had witnessed a crime said they did not report it to the police claiming it would be worthless, as the police would not follow it up.

The under-resourced West Yorkshire Police work by crime figures and if these are not reported then no extra Police will be allocated to the area.

Councillor John Briggs said

"The key thing is that people have to report crimes. They would be more willing to do so if they got a response or feedback from the police to know that something was been done. Communication between the police and the community is vital. In the end the police need information from the public to do their job".