Police the peace

Lewisham Police have responded to the findings of a report published this morning, which suggests the borough has been the least peaceful area of the country over the last decade.

Chief Superintendent Russell Nyman, Lewisham Borough Commander said:

The peace index shows that the UK has become a more peaceful place and the end of financial year crime figures covering 2012/13 for London which were released yesterday shows that there were over 45,000 fewer crimes recorded compared to last year.

Overall crime in Lewisham has fallen by 9.3% over the last year - that's 2,537 fewer crimes in the borough and we have seen decreases in offences in some key areas such as knife crime, robbery and violence against person compared to last year.

Knife enabled crime has fallen by 27.9%, robbery has fallen by 13.9% and violent crime has fallen by 8.0% in the last 12 months

Whilst we have seen crime fall in these key areas we are not complacent. We acknowledge that there is still a lot of work to do, especially knife crime and violence, which remains a priority for us over the forthcoming year. Serious youth violence and supporting the younger generation who may be, or are affiliated to a ‘gang culture’ way of life will wherever possible be supported through Trilogy Plus, a joint enterprise between Lewisham Police and the Lewisham Council.

As we go forward in this new financial year substantial organisational changes will be taking place but it is through working together as a team, working with our partners and continuing to deliver the very best services to the people of Lewisham that we will be able to continue to drive down crime. Our priorities for the new financial year are to reduce crime, detect crime and to provide a first class service to the public.