Government figures have revealed that Northamptonshire Police's constant monitoring of the group of more than 250 persistent and priority offenders has returned positive results during 2008-09.
The data, revealed by the Home Office, shows the grou
p carried out 30 per cent fewer crimes between March 2008 and April 2009 compared with the previous year.
During 2007-08, the offenders committed 980 crimes in total, and were predicted to carry out 817 more the following year. The actual figure for 2008-09 was 690, a fall of a third and 19 per cent less than predicted.
Area intelligence manager for Northamptonshire Police, Detective Inspector Richard Tompkins, welcomed the statistics.
He said: "We are extremely pleased with the reductions in levels of offending by prolific and priority offenders (PPOs). We have dedicated staff, who actively track and monitor our PPOs and work very closely with partner agencies, including probation, the Youth Offending Service, prisons and teams such as drug agencies to actively target and rehabilitate PPOs.
"Our aim is to prevent and deter crime, rehabilitate offenders and in cases where there is intelligence to suggest re-offending, we work to catch and convict them.
"Our officers work closely with the PPOs, developing a rapport with them, conducting disruption visits, and in general maintaining a close level of interaction."
The statistics did not take into account further work done under the Operation Guardian umbrella launched last September, which aims to disrupt the lives of prolific criminals through high-profile raids.
Det Insp Tompkins added: "We would urge members of the public, who have intelligence on offenders to come forward so that we can continue with these reductions."
