House burglaries in the Western Wards of Fareham have been almost halved in the past year, figures revealed last night (March 20) show.
And three cannabis factories that could have produced thousands of pounds worth of the class B drug have been shut down, Sergeant Aaron Freemantle from Park Gate Police said.
Burglaries almost halved in Locks Heath, Warsash, Sarisbury, Park Gate and Titchfield Common
Police figures showed 18 dwelling burglaries were reported across Park Gate, Locks Heath, Sarisbury, Warsash and Titchfield Common between April 1, 2012 and March 19 this year.
There had been a 47 per cent drop in dwelling burglaries compared to the same dates between 2011 and 2012.
Sergeant Freemantle reported the crime figures to residents at a meeting of the Western Wards Community Action Team.
Officers closed down three drugs factories in the area in the past year. One of those factories was found to be growing 700 cannabis plants with a street value of £500,000.
At that address, which cannot be revealed at this stage, officers also found 300 mature plants that, according to Sgt Freemantle, when cropped could have taken the street value up to £1m.
A total of 780 crimes were reported in the Western Wards in the past year, and 30 per cent of those were solved by officers – an 11 per cent improvement on last year.
Sgt Freemantle said the decrease in burglaries could be because they had more proactive officers out in the area stopping them from happening in the first place.
“We’re making improvements and we’re trying to improve the way we detect crime. But we need to work harder,” he said.
Meanwhile the 175 criminal damage incidents reported was down 35 per cent on last year’s figures.
There were 75 serious acquisitive crimes (which includes burglaries, robberies and thefts of motor vehicles) – of which 12 per cent had been solved.
Sgt Freemantle said the numbers of this type of crime was very low in this area, and that the Park Gate team was close to Hampshire Constabulary’s force target of solving 16.5 per cent of these crimes.
Sixty-eight assaults occurred in the past year – which was five less than in the same period from 2011 to 2012. And reports were made of 572 anti-social behaviour incidents.
After the meeting Sgt Freemantle said: “Any impact of solving crime is going to be a benefit to the police and the community as well.
“We look to make a massive impact on drugs that are being distributed and sold in the area and will continue to do that.”