Drug offences on the increase (From Western Telegraph)

Drug offences on the increase

CRIME in the Dyfed-Powys Police area is up on the same period last year. There were 508 more crimes, a rise of 3.7%, with a detection rate of 62% - identical to the comparable period last year.

The number of drug offences between April and October, was 1,441, compared to 1,049 for the same period last year - representing an increase of 37.4%. The detection rate has remained static at 98%. House burglaries have increased by 9.5% or 40 offences, but the rate of increase has slowed over the past three months. This equates to 2.33 crimes per 1,000 households, compared to 2.13 crimes over the same period last year. The detection rate for these offences is up by 19.4% to 43%, compared to the same period last year. In a report to last weeks meeting of the Police Authority, it was stated that serious violent crime has fallen by 134 offences. This equates to 1.87 crimes per 1,000 population, compared to 2.15 crimes last year. The detection rate is running at 92%, again identical to last year. Vehicle crime has also fallen by 5.3% (67 crimes).

q Road accidents: The number of fatal and serious road accidents in the Dyfed-Powys area from April to October 2001, was 309, compared with 292 for the previous year. There were 27 fatal accidents, compared with 11 for the same period last year.

q Racist incidents: Racist incidents for the period April to October 2001 totalled 110, compared to 78 incidents for the same period last year. Across the Dyfed-Powys area, 61 racially aggravated crimes were recorded. Of these, 77% (47) were detected - an increase of 9.4%.