Only by combined endeavour can we change the communities in which we live

David Blunkett

The chance of becoming a victim of crime is at its lowest for 20 years he told a residents group in Sheffield on Friday.

Mr Blunkett said: "All of us have responsibility for the society we live in.

"I accept mine on behalf of the government, but nobody else should be passing the buck either.

"Only by combined endeavour can we change the communities in which we live."

Crime falling

Everyone, from the government and police to family, individuals and the wider community must "take their responsibilities to reduce crime seriously," he told Sheffield Tenants and Residents Together (Start).

The group is challenging Sheffield's status as the UK's "safest" city, saying car crime, muggings and drug dealing are all on the increase.

Mr Blunkett acknowledged country-wide concerns over rising violent crime but said people were less likely to become victims of crime than they had been for 20 years.

But speaking to BBC News earlier on Friday, the home secretary was realistic.

"I recognise that it's no good telling people that over all fear of crime has gone down, that over all crimes dropped last year by 12%, if they don't feel it in their streets, in their homes, in their lives," he said.

Last week, shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin indicated a shift in Tory law and order policy when he called for a more "neighbourly society" to halt the "conveyer belt of criminality".

London crackdown

Mr Blunkett's speech came as Scotland Yard announced that hundreds of traffic officers will be transferred to a new squad to crack down on muggers in London.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said more than 300 officers will be moved and the squad, which is also intended to be on the alert for any terrorist activity, will total 475 officers.

In Sheffield, Mr Blunkett also said that youth justice reforms are "gathering momentum", pointing to monthly youth justice figures released by the Lord Chancellor's department on Friday.

The figures show it takes half the time to get a persistent young offender to court after arrest, than it did when Labour came to office.

The government says it is keeping its pledge to cut the time between arrest and punishment to 70 days.

New York trip

Mr Blunkett plans to mug up further during a meeting, possibly in the spring, with criminologist George Kelling, the pioneer of New York's "zero tolerance" anti-crime blitz during a visit to the city.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The home secretary is interested in listening to ideas about how to deal with anti-social behaviour, and obviously George Kelling has influential ideas in this area."

Mr Kelling formulated the idea of "order maintenance", where police concentrate on areas with low-level disorder such as vandalism and graffiti to prevent them escalating into robbery, drug dealing and prostitution.

Crime appointment

Meanwhile, ex-Legal Affairs Minister David Lock has been appointed chairman of the service authorities for the National Criminal Intelligence Service and the National Crime Squad.

Mr Lock, who lost his Wyre Forest constituency to the hospital campaigner Richard Taylor at the election, replaces the former Tory Minister Sir John Wheeler.

He will hold the post for the next two years initially.

The home secretary said Mr Lock would bring "considerable experience" to the job.