This is how much reported crime has dropped in Hartlepool since the coronavirus lockdown

They indicate that the amount of offences reported to Cleveland Police throughout the town during March 2020 was nearly nine per cent less than 12 months previously.

The overall number of incidents reported across the force during the same period was also more than 16 per cent down compared to March 2019.

Cleveland Police have described the reduction as “not surprising” considering the widespread closure of licensed premises and most shops following the nationwide lockdown on March 23.

A spokesperson for the force said: “In common with the police service nationally we have seen a fall in crime over recent months, which, as Martin Hewitt chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council has said, is not surprising given that pubs, bars and most shops were closed and people were staying at home during that period."

The figures, released by the Home Office via its www.police.uk website, show that the number of offences reported to police in Hartlepool in March 2020 was 1,276.

This was a reduction of 124 complaints – around 8.8 per cent – compared to the March 2019 total of 1,400.

Among the categories of crime to show large falls was shoplifting – down by half from 152 incidents in March last year to 76 this year.

Anti-social behaviour cases also reduced by nearly a fifth from 420 complaints in March 2019 to 339 in March 2020.

Leading hotpots in this year’s figures were Laburnum Street and York Road, where 23 incidents each were reported, and Marina Way, where 19 offences are said to have been committed.

Forcewide, the number of reported crimes – a figure which includes ongoing and discontinued investigations – fell by 1,381 complaints from 8,554 in March 2019 to 7,173 in March of this year.

While the Government’s lockdown was confirmed on March 23, licensed premises were urged to close down at the end of business on Friday, March 20, with Hartlepool’s streets virtually deserted throughout that weekend.

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