Burglary in Leeds has dropped dramatically, according to figures released today by Safer Leeds.
There were 816 fewer burglaries in the city in the six months to May 2010 compared with the same period the year before – a drop of 16 per cent.
The fall follows a city-wide drive by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Police to target offenders and improve home security.
The approach involved analysing intelligence reports to identify burglary hotspots, and protect vulnerable victims as well as improved information-sharing across the city. The reports identified prolific offenders and locations of concern and targeted programmes were set up to focus on these.
Police also successfully closed off a number of outlets for stolen goods, which is also believed to have contributed to the fall.
The news has been hailed as a breakthrough by representatives of Safer Leeds, the city’s Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership after years of rising burglary levels in the city.
Cllr Peter Gruen, Leeds City Council’s executive member for Community Safety, said:
“These figures show a huge turnaround in burglary levels in the city in a relatively short time. They show what can be achieved by good partnership working and by targeting our work to identify the places and the people that need the most help.
“This intelligence-led approach is going to be increasingly important in the coming months as we face doing the same job with reduced resources.
“It is important though that we don’t become complacent. We at Safer Leeds will do all we can to continue to drive down burglary levels. But the public can help too.
“One third of all burglaries are the result of doors and windows being left open – and that goes up to 50 per cent in the student areas.
“So, please, during these summer months don’t forget than an open window can be an open invitation to a burglar.”
Chief Superintendent Ian Whitehouse is the Divisional Commander at North West Leeds Division and chairs a multi-agency partnership tasking group specifically looking at burglary on behalf of Safer Leeds.
Chief Supt Whitehouse said:
"We are extremely pleased to see the results in tackling this problem. There are too many people to thank for their efforts and achievements but they know that these figures reflect the hard work they have put in during the last 12 months. It is my firm intention to continue to ensure that if you are a burglar you will be caught and we will do everything we can to disrupt your activities. It is our intention to make sure people remain safe in their own homes."