1 Apr 2014

Southland police claim credit for crime drop

6:11 pm on 1 April 2014

The Southland police commander, Lane Todd, says his officers have prevented hundreds of alcohol-fuelled crimes in the region.

Statistics published on Tuesday show the number of offences there dropped by 12.4 percent last year, while 2200 fewer crimes have been reported since 2010.

The numbers of property damage and public order offences have fallen by similar amounts (21.7 and 21.9 percent respectively) but there was a 22.5 percent jump in the number of sexual assaults and house break-ins were up 11 percent.

Inspector Todd says the figures show that a collaborative crime prevention strategy is working.

"Certainly there's a lot more collaboration that goes on and if we look at alcohol, for example, we've done a lot of work with our local councils and our local licensing industry to prevent a lot of the alcohol crime we had in the past."

Inspector Todd says Southland is proud of its results and is sharing its strategies nationally.