TOWN’S CRIME SHAME
THIRD OF ALL VIOLENT INCIDENTS OVER NEW YEAR ACROSS WARWICKSHIRE HAPPENED IN NUNEATON
A THIRD of all violent crimes over the New Year across Warwickshire took place in Nuneaton and Bedworth.
Latest police statistics have shown that of the 99 violent crimes that happened across the county over the New Year’s weekend, 31 of them took place in the borough.
Top cops have stressed that the majority of the calls were domestic-related and once again highlights how the borough is the county’s domestic abuse capital.
Also, of Warwickshire’s 305 recorded crimes, the north of the county, which includes Nuneaton and Bedworth, accounted for 155 of them.
One glimmer of hope is that the number of violent crimes in the two towns between 5pm on December 29 and 11.59pm on New Year’s Day was down, by one, compared to the figures for the previous year.
Warwickshire Police chief superintendent Alex Franklin-Smith paid tribute to all staff who worked during the New Year festivities and said that a special operation, dubbed ‘Christmas Presence,’ did have some impact.
“New Year is always a busy time for the force, especially when it falls over a weekend like it did this year,” he said.
“We had planned for this and we had extra officers on duty as part of our annual Christmas Presence campaign to help keep people safe on the streets of our town centres.
“I’m pleased to say that the vast majority of people went out and had a good time without getting into trouble and there were no serious violent incidents on the streets of our town centres. We issued advice over the festive season to help keep people safe and I’d like to thank everyone who followed our advice and looked after themselves and their friends.
“Unfortunately, as we expected, there were isolated incidents of violence over the weekend, many of which were domestic related, but with extra officers on duty we could quickly respond to these incidents and deal with those involved.”
He went on to conclude “I’d also like to thank all of our officers and staff who were on duty over the whole festive period. When people join the police force they make a commitment to protect people from harm 365 days of the year and this involves working at times when their friends and family will be celebrating over the festive period. I’m sure local people will join me in recognising their commitment and thanking them for doing such a fantastic job.”