Brent police respond to rising crime figures (From Harrow Times)

Brent police respond to rising crime figures

5:01pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Anna Slater

Police have responded to figures showing crime in Brent has skyrocketed.

The statistics, released on January 23, revealed that crime rose by 6.3 per cent in Brent last year.

Brent Borough Commander, Matthew Gardner, said that this was down to the "proactive" nature of the police.

He said: “The rise in crime is due to the proactive nature of how we police in Brent. "In the last nine months, there have been 26,381 crimes reported to police, 4,927 of which have been as a result of police activity, such as stop and search, and arrest warrants, where we have been proactive in stepping forward and arresting people in the street.

"This proactive approach accounts for 19 per cent of all crime in Brent. If we had not stopped and arrested nearly 5,000 people for committing criminal acts, we would have a total reduction in crime of about 13 per cent.

"A large part of our job is to arrest cowards, bullies and thieves who have no regard for their fellow citizen. "That is what I believe my community want their police to do, and that is what we will continue to do."