Corby Community Safety Partnership has declared 2009 a successful year as the multi-agency partnership records sizeable reductions in overall crime and anti-social behaviour.

2009 saw Corby Borough Council join forces with Northants Police, NHS Northamptonshire, The Fire Service, The Probation Service, Youth Offending Team, victim support services and local businesses to tackle crime and increase community engagement.

Throughout the year, improvements in preventing criminal damage, assault with injury, arson, and vehicle crime contributed to a fall in overall crime by 15%. Corby has also seen a reduction in anti-social behaviour of 29.3% since March 2008, a figure which amounts to 2,341 less victims in Corby.

The partnership have held ten area specific ‘Week of Actions’ in 2009, targeted at tackling anti-social behaviour, burglary, alcohol related crime, motorcycle nuisance, environmental enhancement and improvements. The Week of Actions also give the partnership the opportunity to consult further with local residents on how authority agencies can improve safety and confidence within local communities.

Residents who are at most risk of being victims of crime have been a focus for the partnership – the partnership have been deploying CCTV cameras to areas with high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour and providing 100 personal CCTV cameras to vulnerable residents – an effort which saw more than 264 arrests attributed to the CCTV system in 2009.

The partnership also took a tough approach to tackle litter as more than 60 notices were served and 5 Fixed Penalty Notices given to litter offenders.

A large portion of reducing overall crime in 2009 can also be attributed to a focused and dedicated community consultation effort which has seen the partnership engage with more than 1,500 residents over the past year through the partnership’s Week of Actions, Joint Action Group events and community meetings.

Leader of Corby Borough Council, Cllr Pat Fawcett, said:

“We made important progress towards our goal of reducing crime in Corby and making our communities safer and stronger, but there is still a lot of work to do. What is even more encouraging is that we are starting to see resident’s perception of crime in the Borough change as was highlighted in the 2009 Place Survey which showed 79% of respondents feel safe in their local area.

“I would like to congratulate and thank our dedicated team and partners for their hard work and look forward to further initiatives in 2010 to make Corby a bigger, better, brighter place to live, work and play.”

Inspector Gary Williams from Northants Police said:

"The excellent reductions in crime and anti-social behaviour are a testament to the partnership working in Corby. Through our Safer Community Teams we will continue to work closely with other agencies and engage with our communities. Our aim must be to build on these successes, by putting our communities first, building their trust and tackling the issues that are of the most concern to residents.

"The last 3 months in particular have seen the lowest levels of recorded criminal damage and anti-social behaviour for 3 years, with more than 1000 less anti-social behaviour incidents reported."