Recorded incidences of antisocial behaviour dropped by 16 per cent across County Durham and Darlington over the past year according to a new report published recently. In his latest Public Performance Report, Ron Hogg, the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington announced that there were reductions in antisocial behaviour in every part of the Constabulary’s area. The areas with the largest drops in anti-social behaviour are Crook (down 28.7 per cent) Newton Aycliffe (down by 25.3 per cent), Stanley (down by 23.5 per cent). The lowest decrease was in Spennymoor (down 4 per cent). Ron said: “The reduction in anti-social behaviour is excellent news, across the whole of County Durham and Darlington.

Local people have always stressed that tackling anti-social behaviour should be a priority for the Police and our partner organisations, working with communities. Whilst these figures are reassuring, residents can be assured that we will continue to take anti-social behaviour very seriously”. The report also shows that victim-based crime has increased by 27.8%. National crime recording guidelines have recently been amended, which has led to cases of harassment being recorded as crimes when they may not have been previously. This has contributed to the increase in levels of recorded crime, and to the drop in AntiSocial Behaviour. There have been increases in burglary, vehicle crime, shoplifting and criminal damage.

Ron added: “I would like to reassure people that the Constabulary has a number of plans in place to tackle these increases. I will continue to monitor all crime, public confidence and victim satisfaction closely, and I will release my Public Performance Report every quarter. I have added more data this time, so that I can now monitor people’s experiences of hate crime and rural crime. “I notice that the level of satisfaction which victims of crime have with their experience with the Police has increased to 87% this time. This is the third highest level in the country, and shows that our approach to supporting victims is succeeding, and we will continue to act on evidence to improve the service further.” Ron concluded “It is important to remember that the Durham and Darlington area is one of the safest in the country to live, work, visit and do business”. Ron’s Public Performance Report is available on his website at: www.durhampcc.gov.uk Further crime prevention advice is available on the Constabulary website at www.durham.police.uk