Crime down in Littlehampton area, but drug offences are up

The reduction meant that 342 fewer people were victims of crime, Insp Nick Bowman told councillors just a few days before the recording year ended, on Sunday.

This area’s fall was not as great as in the whole of Arun, however, which benefited from a 13.5 per cent drop in offences.

Insp Bowman, reporting to the Joint Eastern Arun Area Committee, of county, Arun, town and parish councillors, gave a breakdown for each category of crime in the Littlehampton area.

Car thefts fell by 17 per cent (73 fewer), house burglaries by 21 per cent (34 fewer), burglaries other than a house – sheds, garages, etc. – reduced by 19 per cent (52 fewer) and there was a 12 per cent fall in criminal damage (96 fewer).

Anti-social behaviour offences were also down, by 28 per cent.

Drug-related crimes were up, however, although no precise figure was given.

“That does, I suspect, instil fear in people if they know drug crimes are going up,” he said.

However, it was a good thing that these cases were rising, as it showed the police were catching people connected with drugs.

“In my experience, people who are attracted to illegal substances have to fund their habit somehow. They are, generally, people who do not work for a living and, generally, fund their habit by stealing.

“Hopefully, if we can put measures in place to cut drug offences, we can also be tackling issues that affect other areas of life,” he added.

While statistics could have the effect of increasing the fear of crime in the population, Insp Bowman said the figures for this area, it could be argued, were a reflection that the community was a safer place.

“This is a low-crime area, and crime is down compared with last year,” he pointed out.

Peter Evans, county councillor for Ferring and East Preston, asked what was being done by police to tackle the problems of speeding in both villages.

Insp Bowman said officers could deploy a speed indicator device (SID) at locations which had been identified as being particularly dangerous, and Sue Furlong, principal community safety officer for the county council, said eastern Arun was one of the first areas were a new Speedwatch initiative was being launched.