Vince Cable

This week the police will release numbers (for 2006/7) which show big improvements in local recorded crime for violence, criminal damage, robbery, burglary, hate crimes and crime as a whole. There has also been a jump in detection rates. The figures also show a big increase in police operational staff to 396 (February), up from 336 last year (2006) and 311 in 2005.

Vincent Cable said: "The police numbers show what I would expect and hope them to show. The police have more local officers, up to 50% in 4 years and almost double the depressed levels of the mid-1990's. This has led to reduced crime and improved detection rates. There are still problems in the quality of service - under 50% of telephone calls are answered within the target time and detention rates for robbery, burglary car crime and criminal damage, while improving, are still a poor 20% or less. But there is little doubt that the priority given to improved policing has paid off in significant part."