THERE were 70 crimes committed in Denbigh in just one month, according to a new look police website.
The crime-mapping website www.police.uk shows during the same time frame there were 41 crimes in Llangollen, 33 in Ruthin, 21 in St Asaph, 20 in Bala and just nine in Corwen.
The Home Office says the site has received more than 450 million hits since its launch in January last year and they have now developed it to include more data.
Of the 70 crimes in Denbigh during December, which is the most recent month’s figures available on the site, there were 27 of criminal damage and arson, 24 of anti-social
behaviour and eight of violent crime.
The figures for Denbigh are an improvement on the 89 shown on the map for December 2010, but are higher than those in other towns in Denbighshire.
Conwy and Denbighshire Rural District Inspector Gary Kelly said much of the figure for criminal damage/arson was due to one incident where 25 motor vehicles were damaged causing a log of 25 separate crimes.
“Were this one off incident not to have occurred then the overall downward trend in crime would have been better than it currently is, but such incidents are always of concern to North Wales Police,” he said.
“This particular matter was successfully brought to a conclusion due to the help of members of the public and I would always encourage people to report such damage to the police.”
The crime map shows hotspots within the town including five crimes on or near Pigot Road, and four on or near Maes Mathonwy.
Insp Kelly added: “The figures do indeed show crime has reduced when compared with the same period last year and this is very welcome news for our communities.”
The website uses data provided by local police forces to give people a snapshot of what is happening on their streets.
By typing in the name of a district or postcode people can see the total number of crimes in an area together with a breakdown of various categories, including burglary, violence and anti-social behaviour.
Using an interactive map, they can also ‘home in’ on exactly where these were committed.
Insp Kelly added: “Comparison of raw figures from town to town needs to be done only when informed by socio and other demographic information. Only when one understands causation factors can such comparisons be really informative.
“Denbigh is a very safe place in which to work, live and visit, that is the most important point.”
Denbigh Councillor Jane York said the town’s high figures could be caused by more people there reporting crime to the police and added she hoped a new youth project behind Morrisons would help.
“In regard to the figures in other parts of Denbighshire I think levels of deprivation is a link that has to be considered when comparing it with places like Ruthin,” she said.
“I would say in a place like Denbigh the amount of police is as good as you would hope for in the current economic climate.”
Fellow Denbigh Cllr Gwyneth Kensler added: “Denbigh is a good place in which to live and I am pleased this spate of anti-social behaviour in December has been addressed by the police.”
Denbigh Cllr Raymond Bartley said he thought the police in the town were “very good”.
“The police come to the town council meeting once a month and they did say the crime in that field had risen but that they were in control of it,” he said.
“If people are carrying out criminal damage they will be bought to justice.”