Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services data report - September 2020
Fourth 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, courts and prisons.
Recorded Crime in Scotland
The recorded crime figures presented below exclude crimes recorded under the coronavirus legislation.
September 2020
The number of crimes recorded in 2020 remains below 2019 levels
The number of crimes recorded in September 2020 was 4% lower than in September 2019, and the number of offences was 3% lower than in September 2019.
Since last year, five crime and offence groups have seen a reduction while the other two are at higher levels.
Other crimes were 8% higher (or 4161 crimes). This increase was driven by rises in Crimes against public justice (up 40%, or 604 crimes).
Sexual crimes were also higher (4%, or 42 crimes), due to a rise in Other sexual crimes (up 11%, or 53 crimes).
April to September 2020
Since April 2020, crime has remained below 2019 levels
When looking across April to September 2020*, the volume of crime recorded by the police may be returning to similar levels as seen in 2019.
Across this period 130,645 crimes were recorded. This was 7% lower than April to September last year (121,914 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 September 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 7% reduction over April to September (by volumes) were:
Shoplifting
↓ 36% (or 5,754 crimes)
Other theft
↓ 20% (or 4,277 crimes)
Vandalism etc.
↓ 12% (or 2,848 crimes)
The biggest increases of this period were in:
Crimes against public justice
↑ 35% (or 3,440 crimes)
Fraud
↑ 61% (or 3,165 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: September 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, this 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 since last month but remains lower than April to June levels
Total use of interventions has more than trebled since last month (an increase of 240%, or 7,553 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 Actvity in September
In September, almost all interventions made were dispersals. This remains consistent with previous months.
Of the remaining 3% of interventions:
- 79 were dispersed using reasonable force
- 228 were issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
- 43 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 September 2020 was above 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 September 2020, incidents were 8% higher than the equivalent period in 2019.
In September 2020:
5,323 Domestic incidents recorded ↑ Up 5% since last year (5,087 incidents)
In April to September 2020:
34,106 Domestic incidents recorded ↑ Up 8% since last year (31,689 incidents)
The proportion of April to September 2020 incidents that include the recording of at least one crime or offence was 43.4%. 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 747 such crimes recorded by the police in April to September 2020, compared to 861 during the equivalent period in 2019 (down 13%).
Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents per 10,000 population
Across Scotland as a whole, the police recorded 62 domestic abuse incidents per 10,000 population during April to September 2020.
The local authorities with the highest rates were Dundee City (92), West Dunbartonshire (81), West Lothian (80) and Clackmannanshire (80)
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: September 2020.
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot
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