'Hands off' message

A public meeting in Nelson last night encouraged neighbours to work together to prevent disturbances similar to those seen in Burnley in 2001 and to help reduce drug crime in the borough by talking to officers.

Representatives from the Pennine Division said they were working in partnership to reduce crime and that last year, crime as a whole, had been reduced by 8.6 per cent in Nelson and by thirty per cent across the Pennine Division.

Members of the community, including local councillors, young people and representatives of youth organisations, heard how the Pennine Division had improved its detection rate for racially-motivated crime from 33 per cent to 56 per cent in the last 12 months.

Superintendent Steve Hartley said: "There are still areas which can be improved on. But this is one of the best detection rates in the country which I put down to robust investigation on our part.

"We had 94 less burglary victims in Nelson in the last year, which represents 20 per cent. We have had 197 less victims of criminal damage in Nelson and 700 less burglaries in the Pennine Division."

Those attending the meeting, held at the Northern Technologies Conference Centre, were shown videos of how the police handled the disturbances in Burnley in 2001, the trouble in Burnley after the England v Sweden match and football hooliganism.

They were also told about the success of drug operations Flourish, Nimrod and Flee, which involved the seizure of thousands of pounds of drugs and the arrests of known drug users and dealers following information gathered from the public.

Supt Hartley said the key to it all was community cohesion.

He said: "We have seen people fighting with each other, people frightened for their lives ad police officers concerned about getting injured while trying to protect people from each other. It is about tolerance, understanding and education. The more times we get communities together to develop this the better."