Local Conservatives today welcomed the release of latest crime figures which showed that Haringey's police command have improved their crime detection rates in a number of important crime categories and now has some of the best crime detection rates in London. That said, some detection rates are still far too low showing that there is still a long way to go in winning the battle against crime in Haringey, say Tories.

Comparing July 2003 with July 2002, Haringey's crime detection rates for burglary rose by 6.9 percentage points and by 4.5 percentage points for robbery.

Taking London crime detection rates as a whole, in July 2003 Haringey was top performer on theft of a motor vehicle, was 3rd best for violence against the person and was 5th best for robbery. However, being 'best of a bad lot' is not good enough and the tables mask some very poor underlying scores e.g. although Haringey was best in London on theft of a motor vehicle it scored a crime detection rate of only 12.6% and its crime detection rate for theft from a motor vehicle was an abysmal 2%.

Commented Peter Forrest, Conservative GLA Candidate for Enfield-Haringey:

"After a long time in the doldrums Haringey's police command appears to be turning the corner. They are to be congratulated on their improvements in crime detection rates and for their excellent Met league table positions for a number of important crime categories.

However, many crime detection rates in absolute terms are still very low, especially on vehicle-related crime. There is no room for complacency and there is still a long way to go."

ENDS.