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Alarm bells ring over crime rates
Katrina McKeever20/12/2006
ALARM bells are ringing at Macclesfield Borough Council, after figures revealed the burglary rate is on the rise in the borough.
Combating the rising trend in burglaries has been put on the council's high priority list after most recent figures show that the burglary rate for the last quarter from July to September is 3.91 per 1,000 households.
This is up from 2.87 on the same period last year, when the number of break ins around Macclesfield were falling steadily.
Councillor Shirley Sockett, chairman of the performance monitoring committee, said: "When Richard Strachan came to our last meeting he was very positive.
"He said crime is low in this area and yet here we are with one of the worst rates. If he is telling us we are safe, why are we not in the lowest overall."
Coun John Narraway said: "If for example Paul Morgan (head of waste at Macclesfield Borough Council) doesn't come up with the goods, we can sack him for incompetence.
"If Richard Strachan doesn't reduce the burglary rates, we can't do anything about it. We should still ask the question but it is very difficult for us to force that indicator down."
He added: "We need to say with confidence this is a safe borough and these performance indicators don't say that."
Speaking after the meeting, Superintendent Richard Strachan, Macclesfield's most senior officer, said although investigating crime is a police job, combating burglary rates is the joint responsibility of the Macclesfield Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, made of police, council, probation and fire service.
He said: "The bottom line is we have experienced a rise in domestic burglary but we are working hard to reduce that and that will include working with our partners on the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership."
Sup Strachan said officers have made several significant arrests over the past few weeks and are engaged in high visibility policing in vulnerable areas.
He said other initiatives are being used throughout the borough, such as Smartwater, a fine mist which releases a unique DNA to put the criminal at the scene of the crime.
Not only that but ANPR, a number plate reader which can give out vital information about cars, identifying them immediately as stolen and giving owner and insurance details, which help track criminals from outside the area.
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3/01/2007 at 15:18