Cleveland Police says falling recorded crime figures are “hugely encouraging” and it has been “listening” to communities about the offences that matter to them the most.
Figures show there were 7,657 fewer crimes recorded by the force in the 12 months to September when a year-on-year comparison is made.
The 74,366 recorded crimes represented a drop of 9.3%.
There were 919 fewer residential burglaries, a category of crime that can have a chilling effect on householders.
These fell by 22.6% to 3,131 in the 12 months to September, an update for members of the Cleveland Police and Crime Panel showed.
In other neighbourhood crime categories, recorded robbery offences were down 9.1% with the 830 total representing 84 fewer robberies.
Police recorded serious violence offences involving youths decreased by 19.5%, 521 being recorded in the 12 months to September, 127 fewer year-on-year.
Meanwhile the use of knives or sharp objects in the same category was down 24.8%, totalling 257, a drop of 85.
Separately, recorded rape offences also fell in the 12 months to September, there being 896, a fall of 83 year-on-year or 8.4%.
In August 2023 former Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner secured more than £1m to go towards ‘hotspot’ high-visibility, uniformed patrols targeting areas where anti-social behaviour is at its worst.
Current PCC Matt Storey said this equated to 6,800 dedicated patrols having taken place in the period up to September this year across 15 council wards in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Stockton.
The force has since claimed a 21% reduction in anti-social behaviour, part of an overall reduction of 5.7% when it comes to incidents reported to police across the borough year-on-year.
There were 17,027 such incidents in the 12 months to September, which represents 1,047 fewer incidents.
A spokeswoman for the force told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s positive to see that the hard work of officers and staff across Cleveland Police has resulted in crime falling across Teesside.
“It is hugely encouraging and a positive step in the right direction as we continue to build an even safer and stronger place for people who live and work within our community.
“We have seen a noticeable reduction in some of the crimes that matter most to our communities by listening to their concerns and taking action to tackle it or prevent it from occurring.
“A key part of this is through an increased policing presence in hot spot crime areas, stop searches and warrants that come from information received to police.
“There are also various prevention campaigns and operations taking place on a regular basis such as Operation Artemis focusing on targeting criminals in each of the four districts and in specialist areas such as violence against women and girls and serious and organised crime.
“Also Operation Deterrence to tackle violence that causes serious harm and Operation Endurance to tackle the illegal and dangerous use of off-road bikes.”
A frequent criticism directed at the force is that some people don’t bother reporting crime since they feel they won’t get a response, or the matter being reported won’t be viewed as a priority.
The force spokeswoman said it wanted to “further encourage members of the public to report a crime and to be assured that it will be responded to and actioned appropriately”.
She also said the force was also recently recognised as being one of six in England and Wales to be graded ‘good’ for recording crimes.
The spokeswoman added: “There are numerous ways to report a crime such as calling 101, visiting the Cleveland Police website and clicking on the report tab and downloading the COPA app.
“We ask the public to always dial 999 if it is an emergency.”
The force is also said to be charging a proportionately higher number of people with crimes compared to the national picture in the context of offences recorded, 8.4% in 2023/24 compared to 6.4% nationally.
Figures show sexual offences have the lowest charge rate in Cleveland – just 3.6% – with possession of weapons the highest, 36.7%.
