Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services Data Report - November 2020
Sixth release of a monthly data report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the justice system in Scotland, including information from Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Scottish Prison Service.
Police Activity
(Police Scotland)
101 and 999 call volumes
- Total weekly 999 & 101 calls remain below 2019 levels
- Both 101 calls and 999 calls have remained relatively stable over the past three months.
- There may be evidence of a slight downward trend in 999 calls since August.
- In the week ending 6th December there were 36,831 calls made.
- When combined, calls were almost the same as the previous week.
| (Week ending) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 29th November 2020 | 6th December 2020 | |
| 101 calls | 26,310 | 26,384 |
| 999 calls | 10,422 | 10,447 |
| Total calls | 36,732 | 36,831 |
Incidents recorded
Weekly incident numbers remain below 2019 levels
Since lockdown began, incident numbers have been trending below 2019 levels.
Scotland entered Phase 2 of its route map on 28th May. There was an increase in incidents during that week (w/e Sunday 31st May). However, incident numbers have remained below 2019 levels in the weeks that folllowed, and have declined throughout November.
In the week ending 6th December:
- 27,147 incidents recorded
- Down 7% compared to an equivalent week in 2019 (29,295 incidents)
Further information:
A full breakdown of calls & incident volumes is available from:
Recorded Crime in Scotland
The recorded crime figures presented below exclude crimes recorded under the coronavirus legislation.
November 2020
The number of crimes recorded in 2020 has risen above 2019 levels
The number of crimes reco rded in November 2020 was 1% higher than in November 2019, and the number of offences was 2% higher than in November 2019.
Since last year, five crime and offence groups have seen a reduction while two groups are at a higher level.
Other crimes were 20% higher (or 1,018 crimes). This increase was driven by rises in Crimes against public justice (up 38%, or 598 crimes).
Motor vehicle offences were 6% higher (or 622 offences). This increase was driven by rises in Unlawful use of a vehicle (up 23%, or 752 offences).
April to November 2020
For the first time since April 2020, crime has risen above 2019 levels
When looking across April to November 2020*, 158,333 crimes were recorded. This was 6% lower than April to November last year (168,304 crimes recorded).
When comparing to previous months, crime in 2020 has remained fairly stable since May.
*The recorded crime figures presented here exclude crimes recorded under the new coronavirus legislation.
The biggest drivers of the reduction across April to November were Shoplifting, Other theft and Vandalism etc.
The Changes in levels of recorded fraud section in the latest bulletin provides further background on what may be contributing to this change.
The biggest drivers of the 6% reduction over April to November (by volume) were:
- Shoplifting - down 33% (or 7,042 crimes)
- Other theft - down 18% (or 5,254 crimes)
- Vandalism etc. - down 11% (or 3,541 crimes)
The biggest increases of this period were in:
- Crimes against public justice - up 34% (or 4,448 crimes)
- Fraud - up 64% (or 4,436 crimes)
Further Information:
The data in this section comes from the monthly Official Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, please see Recorded Crime in Scotland: November 2020.
Coronavirus legislation intervention activity
This information is drawn from Police Scotland’s ‘Coronavirus Interventions’ application, which relies on manual input from Police Officers. Due to this manual input, these figures should be viewed as indicative only.
This system currently provides the broadest picture of the differing levels of co-operation experienced by Police across Scotland.
The use of interventions have risen slightly through the month but remains lower than April to June levels
Total use of interventions have increased by almost a third (31%, or 2,136 interventions) since the previous month.
A large spike in interventions was seen on 25th June, following a large scale disturbance in Kelvingrove Park.
COVID-19 Intervention Activity in November
In November, almost all interventions made were dispersals. This remains consistent with previous months.
Of the remaining 20% of interventions:
- 57 were dispersed using reasonable force
- 1,662 were issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
- 57 were arrested
Further Information:
A full breakdown of interventions is available from Police Scotland:
Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents
The number of Domestic Abuse incidents recorded in November 2020 was below the level seen in 2019.
These updates (including the proportion with a crime or offence) will be reflected in future editions of the Official Statistics on Domestic Abuse in Scotland. The next edition will cover the 2019-20 reporting year.
Looking cumulatively across April to November 2020, incidents were 6% higher than the equivalent period in 2019.
In November 2020:
- 4,919 Domestic incidents recorded
- Down 1% since last year (4,964 incidents)
In April to November 2020:
- 44,154 Domestic incidents recorded
- Up 6% since equivalent period last year (41,708 incidents)
The proportion of April to November 2020 incidents that include the recording of at least one crime or offence was 38.5%. Police Scotland’s Management Information Report suggests an equivalent figure of 43.9% for 2019-20.
In addition to the above, separate figures on crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 are available from the Recorded Crime in Scotland monthly Official Statistics. There were 1,039 such crimes recorded by the police in April to November 2020, compared to 1,166 during the equivalent period in 2019 (down 11%).
Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents per 10,000 population
Across Scotland as a whole, the police recorded 81 domestic abuse incidents per 10,000 population during April to November 2020.
The local authorities with the highest rates were Dundee City (121), West Dunbartonshire (105), Clackmannanshire (104), West Lothian (101), and North Lanarkshire (101).
Further Information:
The data in this section comes from the monthly Official Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, please see Recorded Crime in Scotland: November 2020.
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot
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