VIOLENT crime is increasing in Lancaster and Morecambe. But police are jubilant about the new figures as they show a big reduction in burglaries, car thefts and road casualties. There what police call a "slight" increase of 18 extra incidents of violent crime in December last compared to 1996, and 89 more incidents from the period April to December 1997 compared to the previous year's figures. And there was more bad news for local bobbies when it emerged that criminal damage, which includes vandalism, rose by 40 per cent last year.

The figures for 1997 show:

domestic burglaries down by 25 per cent on the previous year

commercial burglaries down 2 per cent

Theft from cars down 31 per cent

road casualties and car thefts both down

Superintendent Phil Brear said members of the public shouldn't be too alarmed about violent crime.

He said: "Of 7,500 offences in the whole area last year only 430 were violent crimes. Most violent crime is committed by a person who knows the victim and 70 to 80 per cent of all violent crimes are detected. That detection rate is so high because the victim knows who did it anyway.

"The media spread news of such crimes everywhere and people are much more worried about it then they should be."

Supt Brear attributed the successes in reducing burglaries and car crime - the two biggest categories of crimes the police deal with - down to the new CCTV cameras as well as better police surveillance.

But local victim of racist crime and Ryelands shop owner Mal Hussain criticised police at a recent public meeting.

"They should have bobbies on the beat going round Ryelands all the time, community policing would keep crime down," he said.

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