Crime has fallen locally by 10 per cent, it has been revealed this week. Between April 1 and this week, there have been 73 fewer victims of crime compared to the same period last year, statistics released by Inspector Les Clark, of Tenby police station, have shown. Officers based at Tenby and Saundersfoot have attended a total of 2,942 incidents during the period in question, with incidents ranging from some trivial minor complaints to reports of serious assaults or other offences. "Across the whole of the Tenby section, officers attended the immediate response incidents such as 999 calls or other reports requiring a swift response within the target time of 20 minutes for 90 per cent of all such calls, with over half actually attended within 10 minutes of being first reported," said Insp. Clark in a report released this week. As well as dealing with local incidents, Tenby- based officers have also assisted divisional colleagues at several incidents across the county, including industrial disputes and serious criminal enquiries.

Assaults

The more serious type of assaults have fallen by 26 offences although instances of common assault have risen by 19 offences. "As ever, alcohol plays a major part in offending behaviours and I can report that of the 109 offences of assault that my officers have dealt with or are currently investigating, 72 are linked to the use or misuse of intoxicants," commented Insp. Clark. "Personal licence holders should be aware of this fact and remember that the days have gone when they could disclaim all responsibility for drink- fuelled violence and other nuisance," he added.

Burglary and robbery

Offences of burglary have reduced by nine offences across the Tenby section, with 10 offences of dwelling burglary occurring. "A few weeks ago, central government reported a steep rise in street robbery offences across the country," said Insp Clark. "On the day the report was published, the first robbery offence reported in Tenby for about five years came in from a female who had been forcibly robbed of her mobile 'phone. "Very good detective work led to an arrest of a young man outside the county. He is currently on remand in custody for that offence and other like offences elsewhere," continued Insp Clark.

Public Order

Officers in the whole of the Tenby section have taken a very proactive stance towards public order offences, and so far this fiscal year, have arrested 33 individuals for such offences, compared to 18 for the same period last year. "As for crimes of violence, most of these offences would have been drink-fuelled and possibly avoidable," reported Insp. Clark. "Some offenders would have received cautions, some court appearances while the majority would have received fixed penalty tickets for disorder."

Drugs offences

A total of 36 individuals have been dealt with for drugs offences, including four for trafficking.

CCTV system

Tenby's CCTV system continues to be an effective tool to assist with policing the town. The system has proven useful recently in a serious incident inquiry, which saved a considerable amount of police time and effort. "The system is used by officers on a daily basis and is now quite simply an essential element of day- today policing," said Insp. Clark. "The newly- installed camera at Saundersfoot is proving its worth with a recent serious affray being 'caught on camera' providing strong evidence against individuals. "For the summer period, the systems at Tenby and Saundersfoot have been centrally monitored at Haverfordwest, although I will be appointing volunteers for Tenby/Saundersfoot CCTV monitoring in the autumn."