County’s crime rate falling

And new figures also show that more offenders are being brought to justice.

Home Office statistics show that between April and December last year there were more than 8,600 fewer victims of crime and that more than 40 per cent of serious violent offenders were convicted.

Burglaries, robberies and vehicle crime continued to fall, along the number of people injured in an assault or serious violent crime.

Burglaries showed a six per cent reduction – equal to 1,234 fewer victims. Even so, burglary remains a top priority for the West Yorkshire force.

More than half of people in the county think the police do an excellent or good job, with more than 83 per cent satisfied with the overall service.

Just over half of domestic violence cases reported to police resulted in a conviction or caution – an improvement on 2009.

Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton said officers must make every effort to drive down crime even further.

“It is good to see crime continuing to fall and that officers’ dedication and hard work means fewer people are falling victim to crime,” he said. “But we can’t just sit back and hope this positive trend continues.

“We have to make every effort to drive crime down even further.”

Mr Crompton said neighbourhood policing remained a top priority.