"Consequently, theft and related offences (including theft of and from motor
vehicles) is down by more than 19 percent on the 2011/2012 year, while burglary and break and enter-type offences are down by a whopping 22.8 percent.
"In those two categories alone there were 6,726 fewer recorded crimes than in the previous year."
However he said that, even with such a substantial reduction, property crime still accounts for nearly two thirds of total crime, much of which has been shown to be preventable if people take responsibility for security of small and portable personal items in parked cars, bars and cafes.
"We have also been very focused on effective deployment of resources to prevent crime or detect it and offenders early to ensure they are effectively put out of business before they can cause more misery and frustration," Mr Clement said.
"It's also encouraging that the number of serious assaults resulting in injury has trended downwards since 2008/09 to this year's figure of 691 offences but it is a concern that the number of public place assaults has gone up by 20 to 1,377 and we'll be looking more closely at those."
Mr Clement said results were achieved by having a district-wide focus on priorities, being able to effectively deploy staff to target known offenders, victims and locations.
He also said maintaining valuable community and partner relationships with the likes of Neighbourhood Support, Community Patrols, Maori Wardens, Asian and Pacific Safety Patrols enabled staff to work more effectively and, spend more time on the street with higher visibility.