North Yorkshire Police are continuing to combat crime and anti-social behaviour.

Performance figures for the last financial year – 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 – show a 9% reduction in crime.

This is 3,630 fewer victims of crime compared to the previous year, with a total of38,765.

Going by the Home Office-led statistics website, IQuanta, this places North Yorkshire Police as the best performing police force in the whole of England for 11 consecutive months based on crimes per 1000 population.

Anti-social behaviour has been reduced by 7% (3,065 fewer incidents) with a total of39,891.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (formerly the British Crime Survey) results also show that 62.2% of local people thought that North Yorkshire Police deal with local concerns. This is an improvement on 59.7% last year.

In the “police and local council are dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour” category, the figure now stands at 60.5% – a significant rise from 53.9% last year.

Both these figures outline the highest public confidence level in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said:
“This extremely high level of performance is a credit to our officers, staff and partner agencies who work tirelessly on behalf of our communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I have nothing but the highest praise for the collective drive and sheer will to improve the quality of life and safety in the neighbourhoods we police.”

Mr Maxwell acknowledged it has been a very tough and challenging time for policing, with North Yorkshire Police having to take decisive action to remain financially stable and sustainable.

He said: “I say without any degree of understatement that the past year has proved immensely challenging for everyone connected to North Yorkshire Police.

“The reduction in central Government funding has meant we had to undertake the single, most dramatic reorganisation of the force in its history.

“The sheer scale and pace of this change, which has included centralising the Force Control Room, re-profiling the Safer Neighbourhoods Commands and establishing a new shift pattern to increase efficiency and effectiveness, has not been underestimated by myself and the Strategic Leadership Team.

“We know first hand that colleagues have had a tough and often worrying time during this period, not least when over 300 posts were removed from the organisation as part of the redundancy programme and other measures to successfully balance the budget.

“It is within this context, however, that these achievements are all the more remarkable.

“By working together as a team and with everyone pulling towards a clear goal, we have been able to secure an impressive9% reduction in crime over the past financial year. Anti-social behaviour has also been reduced by 7%.

“This is a fantastic achievement in conjunction with our partner agencies.”

Mr Maxwell added: “As ever with policing, we must never become complacent. We have a very busy year ahead, not least with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the arrival of the Olympic Torch in June. The security demands of the Olympic games themselves will test policing at both a national and local level.

“I am confident that North Yorkshire Police can more than meet these demands, while still providing the very best policing service possible for the people of North Yorkshire and the City of York.”

Jane Kenyon, Chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Authority, said: “On behalf of all members of North Yorkshire Police Authority, I would like to congratulate and thank all officers and staff of North Yorkshire Police for their hard work, innovation and continued enthusiasm to serve our community throughout this last year.

“This reduction is yet another fantastic result for all working with and for North Yorkshire Police and our communities.”