Southend councillors have expressed their concerns about the apparent rise in crime across the county shown in recent figures from the Essex Police Authority.
They gave unanimous backing to a motion from Liberal Democrat leader Graham Longley (Blenheim) which added that the council also hoped the Chief Constable and the police authority would do everything possible to address the situation. He said while there had been an increase in the number of officers in the force, figures in the authority's latest report to the council showed substantial increases.
However, Brian Kelly (Con. Southchurch) said there had been a major change in the way that crime figures had been recorded because of a Government directive.
He added: "For example, if five people report a disturbance outside one of our nightclubs, it is now being logged as five different crimes rather than simply as one, which was always the situation in the past.
"The chief constable is confident that this is the main reason for the differences in the figures."
Published Monday, June 23, 2003
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