East Riding Police Force Say Area Is Safer With 7,000 Fewer Crimes Annually

They say the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has highlighted a continued reduction in crime across the Humberside force area, which includes Bridlington and the East Riding.

Officers say they remain committed and strive to provide the best possible service to the public and to protect communities.

For the 12 months leading up to December 2024, there was a recorded reduction of 7,210 crime reports compared to the previous year – January to December 2023.

Deputy Chief Constable Dave Marshall said:

‘’The figures released today highlight the significant efforts our teams have made in making Hull, East Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire a safer place to live and work, as we continue with operations and activities to tackle all forms of crime, with a clear focus on victim based crime and making reductions in areas where people unnecessarily suffer.

"Victim-based crimes are incredibly intrusive and often having a huge impact on people and our communities, as they can often occur in public spaces.

“Violence against a person, both injury-related and non-injury, and homicide, has seen a significant decrease over the past year, with 1453 fewer reports than the previous year.

“In addition, we’ve have also seen decreases in public order offences, criminal damage, arson, bicycle theft and robbery with 4,687 overall fewer crimes than the previous 12 months. 

‘’Sexual offences have also decreased, with the figures showing a 3.7% reduction in our force area, compared to an increase nationally, which is the same for burglary with a 3.3% decrease in our area, but a rise nationally.

“With the reductions, what this means as a member of the public living in our force area, is that you are 5.1% less likely to be a victim of these crime types, which I hope gives our communities reassurance we are working hard to keep them safe and protected.”

Other areas that have seen a reduction include stalking and harassment, with a 4.6% decrease and 49 Stalking Protection Orders issued this year, as well as antisocial behaviour that has also reduced by 1.3% .

Areas with increases include shoplifting, which whilst there have been 115 more offences reported which equates to a 1.3% increase, nationally, the rise of shoplifting offences is much higher at 20%.

Rises in other offences include possession of weapons and drugs offences, which reflects the proactive and concerted efforts through targeted activity and operations to identify and tackle those involved in these types of crimes.

Operation Shield, one of the largest, multi team operations in the force with the clear aim of identifying and targeting the most harmful criminals who prey on communities and disrupting and dismantling serious and organised crime, made over 900 arrests and charged 300 people last year for a range of offences, including drugs and weapons.

DCC Marshall continued:

“The report highlights our commitment to being victim-focused, community-focused, and workforce-focused as we strive for further progress in the future.

“However, whilst crime overall has declined across our region, we will not be complacent, and we recognise the importance of continuing to focus on the areas that matter most to our communities.

“We know rural crime has a huge impact on our farming and rural communities and the emotional and financial cost victims of this type crime have to endure cannot be underestimated.

“We continue to invest in tackling rural crime through our dedicated rural crime team who work alongside the communities, volunteers and Farmwatch with specialist equipment to patrol remote farmland, woodland and coastal areas to stamp out crime.

“Neighbourhood Policing we completely understand is crucial for our communities, and following the announcement of the Neighbourhood Policing guarantee, we are exceptionally pleased we will be welcoming 38 additional officers across local policing in the force area.

“Neighbourhood Policing is so much more than community engagement, it’s an opportunity to make a difference in tackling crime, antisocial behaviour, working with partners to solve community-based problems as well as gathering information to help inform the bigger policing picture alongside hotspot policing and our safer streets initiative.

"We will continue to put significant pressure on offenders, working relentlessly to make it clear that Humberside Police will not tolerate any form of criminality within our area to continue driving crime down so our communities have confidence in their police force and we deliver the best possible service.”