LATEST figures show most crimes in the area are down with the exception of one – violence with injury.
There has been a sizeable reduction in the number of thefts and criminal damage incidents reported in the last year.
The figures, released to the Mirror following a Freedom of Information request, show the number of thefts in Reigate and Banstead – the most common offence reported – has fallen from 1,921 in 2011/2012 to 1,487 in 2013/2014 – a reduction of 434, or 22.6 per cent.
Tandridge has experienced a similar decrease, with incidents of theft dropping from 1,268 to 899 in the same period – a drop of 29 per cent.
Reigate and Banstead's police chief, Inspector Dan Gutierrez, said: "It's really difficult to say exactly what impacts on these particular kinds of thefts, but for somewhere like Banstead, for example, we have got a really good Shopwatch scheme. We have got a good community scheme and a group of retailers that work together and local officers work closely with them.
"We had the same thing in Redhill, particularly around the Belfry Shopping Centre. We have a really good relationship with the security staff there.
"I think on the back of that there's really good crime prevention and awareness amongst retailers.
"It's really simple stuff that will bring down crime."
Criminal damage has also fallen in both areas over the same period.
In Reigate and Banstead the number of reported incidents fell from 1,403 in 2011/2012 to 1,142 in 2013/2014 – a fall of 18.6 per cent – while Tandridge has seen a similar reduction from 1,000 incidents in 2011/2012 to 856 in 2013/2014, a 14.4 per cent fall.
Insp Gutierrez explained: "Antisocial behaviour has dropped and that links to criminal damage so if we deal with the dangers of antisocial behaviour you are always going to have a knock-on effect on the other crimes."
However, violence with injury in Reigate and Banstead has increased from 439 offences in 2012/2013 to 520 in 2013/2014.
Insp Gutierrez said: "It's a difficult one to explain but there were changes to the Home Office rules last year. So how the Home Office records it [violence with injury] changed last year which meant lots of crimes had to be re-classified as violence with injury."
He said there had also been an increase in the number of domestic assaults reported: "I'm comfortable with that because if it shows more people reporting domestic assault, I see that as a positive thing rather than a negative thing. We want people to feel confident to report it."
Speaking about the figures for Tandridge, safer neighbourhood team inspector Angie Austin said: "We are pleased to see a drop in crime figures over the last few years which we put down to hard work in identifying and targeting known offenders.
"Taking a proactive approach on operations with other teams across the force, and jointly with neighbouring forces and other agencies, has had a positive impact in deterring criminals from committing crime in the Tandridge area.
