Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services data report - November 2021

Police Activity (Police Scotland)

Recorded Crime in Scotland

The recorded crime figures presented below exclude crimes recorded under the coronavirus legislation.

Note: Each set of columns shows from left to right, November 2019, 2020 and 2021

November 2021

The number of crimes reco rded in November 2021 was 9% lower than in November 2020 and 8% lower than in November 2019. The number of offences was 12% lower compared to November 2020 and 11% lower than in November 2019.

Non-sexual crimes of violence were 30% higher (or 225 crimes) compared to November 2020, increasing from 738 to 963 crimes, and 17% higher compared to November 2019 (increasing from 822 crimes). Within this, Attempted murder and serious assault increased by 9% compared to November 2020 (from 263 to 286). Other violence increased by 107% compared to November 2020 (from 166 to 344) and also increased by 94% from November 2019 (from 177 to 344). The increase in Other violence between November 2020 and November 2021 was due to rises in Drugging (from 1 to 170 crimes) and Threats and extortion (from 78 to 103 crimes). The rise in Drugging is likely due to cases of "spiking", whereas the recently published National Statistics bulletin estimated that more than three-quarters (77%) of Threats and extortion recorded in 2020-21 were cyber-crimes. Crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 increased by 16% compared to November 2020 (from 146 to 170), and were 21% higher than in November 2019 (increasing from 140 to 170).

Sexual crimes were 23% higher (or 258 crimes) compared to last November, increasing from 1,105 to 1,363 crimes. This was also 13% higher than in November 2019 (increasing from 1,211 crimes). Sexual assault saw the largest increase since November 2020, increasing by 33% (from 385 to 512). This was also 17% higher compared to November 2019 (from 437 to 512). Rape and attempted rape increased by 19% compared to November 2020, from 187 to 222 crimes, but this was also a 6% decrease compared to November 2019 (from 235 to 222 crimes). Other sexual crimes increased by 18% (from 526 to 620) compared to November 2020 and increased by 17% (from 532 to 620) compared to November 2019. The rise in Other sexual crimes since 2019 was driven by crimes including Voyeurism, Coercing a person into looking at sexual activity or images and Disclosing or threatening to disclose intimate images. Research published in the recent 2020-21 Recorded Crime National Statistics showed that the majority of these crimes are likely to be cyber-crimes.

Fire-raising, vandalism etc. was 3% lower (or 99 crimes) compared to November 2020, decreasing from 3,904 to 3,805 crimes, and was 5% lower than November 2019. Vandalism etc. has fallen 2% since November 2020 (decreasing from 3,644 to 3,566). This is 6% lower than November 2019 levels.

Crimes of dishonesty were 2% lower (or 195 crimes) compared to November 2020, decreasing from 8,411 to 8,216 crimes. This was 7% lower than in November 2019 (decreasing from 8,875 crimes). Crimes of Fraud have increased throughout the pandemic. Despite a 4% decrease since November 2020 (from 1,577 to 1,511), this follows a 71% increase since November 2019 (from 885 to 1,511). The Changes in levels of recorded fraud section in the monthly crime publication provides users with further background on what may be contributing to this change. Other dishonesty has been the biggest contributor (by volume) to the decrease since 2020 having fallen by 37% compared to November 2020 (from 422 to 265 crimes), and was 36% lower when compared to November 2019.

Other crimes were 32% lower (or 1,987 crimes) than in November 2020, decreasing from 6,173 to 4,186 crimes. This is also 19% lower than November 2019 (decreasing from 5,155 to 4,186 crimes). The main contributors to these decreases were Drugs (which fell by 48% compared to November 2020 and 41% compared to November 2019) and Crimes against public justice (which fell by 16% compared to November 2020 but were 16% higher compared to November 2019).

The following chart shows a breakdown of the crime and offence groups, comparing November 2019, 2020 and 2021

Note: each category shows columns from left to right for November 2019, 2020 and 2021

The biggest decreases from November 2020 to November 2021 were Drugs and Crimes against public justice.

The biggest decreases over this period were:

Drugs

• 48% (or 1,537 crimes)
• 41% (or 1,134 crimes) compared to November 2019

Crimes against public justice

• 16% (or 343 crimes)
• 16% (or 255 crimes) compared to November 2019

The biggest increases from November 2020 to November 2021 (by volume) were:

Other violence

• 107% (or 178 crimes)
• 94% (or 167 crimes) compared to November 2019

Other theft

• 5% (or 146 crimes)
• 6% (or 216 crimes) compared to November 2019

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 2021.

Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents

The number of Domestic Abuse incidents recorded in November 2021 was higher than the level seen in November 2020 and November 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 most recent edition covers the 2020-21 reporting year.

In November 2021

• 5,177 Domestic incidents recorded
• Up 5% since November 2020 (4,919 incidents)
• Up 4% since November 2019 (4,964 incidents)

In April to November 2021

• 42,491 Domestic incidents recorded
• Down 4% since the same months in 2020 (44,154 incidents)
• Up 2% since the same months in 2019 (41,708 incidents)

The proportion of April to November 2021 incidents that included the recording of at least one crime or offence was 42.5%, lower than for the equivalent period in 2020-21, at 43.3%.

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 170 such crimes recorded by the police in November 2021, this is 16% higher than November 2020 (146 crimes) and 21% higher than November 2019 (170 crimes).

Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents per 10,000 population

Across Scotland as a whole, the police recorded 78 domestic abuse incidents per 10,000 population^[1] during the period April to November 2021.

The local authorities with the highest rates were Dundee City (113), West Dunbartonshire (107) and Clackmannanshire (101).

The following chart shows local authorities with rates above the national average.

The following map shows local authorities with above the national average (in a darker shading) of Domestic Abuse incidents per 10,000 population, in the period April to November 2021.

Further Information:

The crime 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 the Monthly Official Statistics on Recorded Crime in Scotland.