DRUG crime rose by nearly a fifth in York last year and hit its highest level in years despite an overall drop in crime across the city.

New figures show there were 674 drug offences involving possession and dealing in 2010 compared with 580 the year before.

The figures represent an overall increase of 16.2 per cent – nearly an extra two crimes a week.

But the figures has been welcomed by North Yorkshire Police’s leading drugs expert, who said the rise in figures meant more offenders were being caught and brought to justice for possessing and dealing narcotics in the city and the region.

Exclusive figures obtained by The Press show that overall crime in York fell by five per cent in 2010, representing about two fewer crimes a day than the year before.

It was the sixth year in a row crime has fallen in the city, but half of York’s 22 council wards showed a rise in drug crime. Three wards stayed the same.

There were noticeable rises in the Acomb ward where the crime had doubled, in Dringhouses where there were 33 more offences and Heworth, Heworth Without, Skelton, Rawcliffe and Clifton Without, Westfield and Hull Road wards also showed a significant hike in drug crime Det Con Paul Johnson, North Yorkshire Police’s drugs co-ordinator, said: “The rise in drugs crime statistics is down to myself and my colleagues working even harder to detect and crackdown on those illegally operation in drugs and bringing those offenders to justice.

“These figures reflect a positive crackdown on illegal substances and show that we, as a force, are not taking our foot off the accelerator in cracking down on narcotics possession and dealing.

“We take the issue of drugs extremely seriously – no matter how small – and we work together with partner agencies to try and ensure those caught do not re-offend.

“I welcome these figures. It shows the diligent works of our hard-working drugs team who act on intelligence every single day to drive drugs out of our community.”

Chief Inspector Dave Hannan, of York Safer Neighbourhood Command, also welcomed the figures.

He said: “The number of drugs offences have increased but this can be accounted for due to specific targeting by the police of offenders suspected of dealing drugs within the community.”

Police chief says figures ‘pleasing at time of recession and hardship’

DESPITE the rise in drug offences, overall crime in York fell last year.

There were 14,601 offences – 826 fewer than in 2009 and fewer than in 2008.

The new crime figures emerged after The Press used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain details of every offence committed in York and North Yorkshire in 2009.

Out of the 22 wards in York, 17 showed a drop in crime while five reported an increase. Bishopthorpe showed the biggest decrease of 46.96 per cent.

The decrease of criminal damage represented York Police’s biggest success story in 2010 with a drop of more than 20 per cent.

Fraud and forgery was way up – 33.43 per cent overall – largely due to a hike in the Rural West York Ward of an astonishing 515 per cent. However, police said that was largely due to one offender being brought to justice for more than 150 offences of fraud and forgery.

Other than drugs offences and fraud and forgeries, the other crimes to show a marginal increase were burglaries and an increase in robberies – this represented only nine more offences than the previous year.

Chief Inspector Dave Hannan, of York Safer Neighbourhood Command, welcomed the figures. He said: “Between January 2010 and January 2011 crime fell by 5.35 per cent in the city of York. This is pleasing to see at a time of recession and economic hardship.

“I would like to thank the public for their continued support and without whom these reductions would not be possible.

“The way the city of York is policed was restructured out at the end of March 2011. At this time it would appear the restructure has not had any dramatic effect on crime figures and I would like to reassure people who live and work in York and the visitors who come to York that we will continue to serve them in a professional and helpful way, tackling crime and criminals in a positive and robust manner.”

In the entire force area, including York, the number of recorded crimes fell by 7.18 per cent from 44,469 to 41,275.

• See The Press tomorrow for details of crime in each York neighbourhood, including a breakdown of offence and local reaction.

York Press: The Press - Comment

Drug crime still a genuine worry

FOR the sixth year in a row, crime in York has fallen. Figures exclusively gained by The Press reveal a five per cent drop in overall crime since 2009 and this is welcome news.

However, drug offences show no sign of abating and on average there were nearly two extra crimes a week during 2010.

Drug crime is the least forgiving and the cost can be the ultimate one, as we report today in the case of 22-year-old John Causer, who police suspect died of an overdose.

It is every parent’s nightmare to discover their son has paid a terrible price for dabbling with drugs – and there are other victims, too. Drug habits need feeding and many domestic burglaries are carried out to fund the daily fix.

The scale of the problem became abundantly clear last year when we reported a total of £250,000 worth of illegal drugs seized in York alone. But it’s not only class A and B drugs that kill. We campaigned to have mephedrone outlawed because, although legal, it was causing unnecessary deaths, especially among young people.

Police say the rise in drugs crime is in part due to their more hard-lined approach, but drugs are a modern plague and while we applaud the tireless efforts made to wean people away from heroin and cocaine, more has to be done if we are to stem the tide and stop the distress drug abuse causes people such as John Causer’s family and friends.

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