Residents in the Maldon district have a good reason to feel safe because crime levels remain low.

A breakdown of crimes committed between April to July this year reveals the number of crimes reported have remained fairly constant in comparison to the same period last year

But Maldon and Dengie section Inspector Kevin Jacobs highlighted in-roads had been made into areas related to anti-social behaviour including criminal damage and drug-related crime.

House burglaries were down from 53 to 41 for the period, which Insp Jacobs described as a particularly pleasing result in view of the work police have been doing, focusing on addicts of class A drugs, who often commit burglaries to fund their habits.

Burglaries of commercial and industrial premises in Maldon climbed from 32 to 58, which can largely be attributed to a concentrated spate of incidents in May, said Insp Jacobs.

Overall, Incidents of violence have remained at a steady 53 for the quarter. Only three vehicles were stolen from Maldon, one more than last year.

Published Thursday August 26, 2004

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