Keighley and Silsden are not violent places in which to live, says a police chief.

As violent crime rates fall Chief Inspector Steve Hobson says the police are doing a "blooming good job" considering their limited resources and vast area they cover.

Speaking at meeting of Silsden Parish Council, Chief Insp Hobson revealed crime figures for the previous two years.

He said: "The reason I want to give you the figures for the previous 12 months is because most of them are exceedingly good news."

He said: "Keighley in general and Silsden in particular are not violent places to live. As a division, Keighley had 888 violent crimes between 1998 and 1999 and between 1999 and 2000 there were 801. That's a drop of 10 per cent.

"In Silsden last year there were 24 violent crimes. This year that figure dropped to just 15, a reduction of 38 per cent."

He said Silsden had seen a significant drop in its crime rate and reported reductions in all types of crimes, except vehicle crime which had seen an increase of 17 incidences over last year's figure.

Speaking to the Keighley News after the meeting Chief Insp Hobson insisted that the crime rate of Keighley division, which is equivalent to two violent crimes per day, did not warrant Keighley being described as violent.

He said: "The fear of crime is often far higher than the reality of it.

"The reality is that Keighley division in general is not a violent place; 801 violent crimes is not a small figure but you have to spread that out through a whole 12 months and then you have to realise Keighley geographically is quite a large area."

He also said the West Yorkshire Police force's tough policy on domestic violence, (which is categorised as violent crime), meant figures were high due to the number of arrests.

After detailing the figures to the councillors Chief Insp Hobson responded to criticism over the level of policing.

Parish councillor Chris Atkinson said: "Are you aware that the people of Silsden pay £170,000 through their rates to live in Silsden? We have got one part time police officer. Surely that wouldn't cost £170,000?"

Chief Insp Hobson said he was aware PC Alison Smith had been working on her own since the departure of PC Monica Nagey, but assured the council the village had the backup of over 200 officers.

"If Silsden suddenly became the crime centre of the Keighley division then most of the crime fighting resources would be focused here. Silsden, like every other area in Keighley division, has got its share of the big pot of about 200 officers" he said.

The chief inspector agreed that the value of beat police officers as a comfort and a deterrent could not be under-estimated.

He insisted pro-active policing, rather than beat bobbies, had led to the drop in the crime figures

"We have limited resources, and given the vast area that we have to cover, we are doing a blooming good job."

He also told the council that a new officer was being recruited to cover Silsden.

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