SW crimes taking less time to solve

Crime rates in the South West are lower than they were two years ago despite a recent spike in offences, according to the region's top cop.

South West police Supt Peter Hatch said an analysis of key performance indicators, including the response times to burglaries and assaults, showed that police were working more efficiently than in the past.

Statistics show at the start of last week, crime offences were up 3.7 per cent - 29 offences - compared to this time last year.

Supt Hatch said the 1.6 million tourists travelling to the South West every year were contributing to the rising numbers.

The 2014/15 financial year statistics were up 2.8 per cent - 143 offences - on the previous year.

But Supt Hatch said compared to the district's 2013 statistics, crime rates had improved. "We made a point to come in here and really focus on crime in the region and there has been a difference," Supt Hatch said.

Crime peaked in June 2013, with the South West district statistics showing there were nearly 1200 assaults, not including domestic violence, and about 10,000 burglaries or thefts in the region.

As of June this year, assaults were sitting at about 930 offences and burglary and theft offences were just under 9000 for the region.

Supt Hatch said the decrease was thanks to new key performance indicators for his officers.

"We have introduced some new KPIs, which means we have to deal with crime matters quickly," Supt Hatch said.

He said for property offences, including burglaries, police had a target to resolve the matter within 30 days.

"So if there's no line of inquiry, we move it on or we charge someone within that time," he said.

"At the moment we're averaging doing that in 17 days."

For offences on a person or assaults, the target is 60 days, which Supt Hatch said police were resolving in 41 days on average.

"There's an expectation the community can have that we're aiming to resolve matters quickly," Supt Hatch said.