Crime rate down across West Berkshire

Thames Valley Police has hailed the statistics, which show a drop of 13 per cent in total crimes recorded across the district in the last year.
The only notable rise is in cannabis-related crime, which bears out nationally as twice as many cannabis farms have been uncovered in the last two years as four years ago.
National figures have revealed more than one million cannabis plants have been seized since 2009, with a street value of £207m.
In West Berkshire an increase of 20 cannabis offences were recorded over the last year.
The success of Operation Rinderpest, in which 23 homes across the district were raided as part of a huge drug-bust exercise, was highlighted as an example of how the district’s police team were focussing on drug dealing.
Chief inspector Lindsey Finch, from the Thames Valley Police Local Policing department, said operations targeting rural crime and a crackdown on night-time offences, often related to drink and drugs, were behind the overall fall.
“This is good news. We made some changes into which resources we put into tackling problems around the night-time economy. The violence is often associated with drinking, the changes have had an impact, that is what we have seen.”
She said the increase in cannabis related crime was a trend seen nationally and that West Berkshire was not out of proportion with the rest of the country.
“It is not a significant issue.”
Despite huge budget cuts the force said it was pleased it had managed to keep front-line officers in their roles and detection rates were good, but with some room for improvement.
Thames Valley Police must save £50million over four years.
Shoplifing has also fallen according to the figures, with 69 fewer offences recorded.
The chief executive of West Berkshire Council, Nick Carter, said it was proof that the district’s new CCTV system, which is now a digital service and runs out of Winsdor and Maidenhead, and the reinvigorated Shopsafe scheme, was proving effective.
“We work with the police and with the safer communities partnership team and it is very much a partnership effort. That shoplifting is down by six per cent, we are very pleased to see it go down. The Shopsafe scheme has extended into Parkway and this proves that shoplifters are being caught,” he said.
Mr Carter also said that a drive between the police and council to make Calcot - a problem area over a number of years with burglary and theft an increasing problem - safer, had been a success.
He said that despite the good results the bodies would not rest on their laurels and would continue to try to drive down crime.