Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services data report - June 2020

First 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.


Police Scotland

101 and 999 call volumes

Weekly 999 & 101 calls have remained broadly stable in recent weeks

In the week ending 28th June there were 45,059 calls. The number of 999 calls was generally higher in June than April.

Line graph showing the number of calls received, by call type, by Police Scotland since 29 March 2020.

Combined, calls were up 1% on the previous week:

In the week ending: 101 calls 999 calls Total
21st June 2020 31,721 12,963 44,675
28th June 2020 32,509 12,550 45,059

Incidents recorded

Weekly incident numbers remain 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). Incidents remained below 2019 levels in the weeks that folllowed.

Line graph showing the number of incidents recorded by Police Scotland for since 29th March with comparable figures for 2019.
In the week ending 28th June:

32,523 incidents recorded
Down 9% compared to an equivalent week in 2019 (35,837 incidents)

A full breakdown of calls & incident volumes is available from:

https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/covid-19-policescotlandresponse/enforcement-and-response-data

Recorded Crime in Scotland: June 2020

The data below comes from the monthly Official Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recorded crime figures presented below exclude crimes recorded under the coronavirus legislation. For more information, please see Recorded Crime in Scotland: June 2020.

Crime in 2020 remains below 2019 levels

The number of crimes recorded in June 2020 was 3% lower than in June 2019, while the number of offences was 1% higher than in June 2019.

Bar chart showing the number of crimes and offences recorded in June 2020 compared to June 2019.

Since last year, four crime and offence groups have seen a reduction while the other three are at higher levels.

Other crimes were 22% higher (or 1,238 crimes). Driven by rises in Crimes against public justice (up 41%, or 670 crimes) and Drugs crimes (up 16%, or 493 crimes).

Sexual crimes were also higher (5%, or 61 crimes), due to a rise in Other sexual crimes which increased 33% (or 161 crimes).

Bar chart showing the number of crimes recorded in June 2020, by crime group compared to June 2019.

Recorded Crime in Scotland*: April to June 2020

Since April 2020, crime is returning to similar levels to that of 2019

Over April to June 2020, the volume of crime recorded by the police may be returning to similar levels as seen in 2019

Across this period 58,198 crimes were recorded. This was 9% lower than April to June last year (63,800 crimes recorded).

Bar chart showing the percentage change in recorded crime since 2019 for April to June 2020.

*The recorded crime figures presented here exclude crimes recorded under the new coronavirus legislation.

The biggest drivers of the reduction were Shoplifting, Vandalism etc. and Other theft

The biggest drivers of the 9% reduction over April to June (by volumes) were:

Shoplifting
↓42% (or 3,526 crimes)

Vandalism etc.
↓20% (or 2,299 crimes)

Other theft
↓21% (or 2,297 crimes)

The biggest increases of this period were in:

Crimes against public justice
↑37% (or 1,782 crimes)

Fraud
↑62% (or 1,564 crimes)

The Changes in levels of recorded fraud section in the latest bulletin provides further background on what may be contributing to this change.

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 fallen since last month

Total use of interventions is down by more than a third (36%) since the previous month.

A large spike in interventions was seen on 25th June, following a large scale disturbance in Kelvingrove Park.

Chart showing the number of coronavirus related interventions by Police Scotland per day since 30th March.

In June, almost all interventions made were dispersals. This remains consistent with previous months.

Pie chart showing the types of coronavirus related interventions used by the police in June 2020.

Of the remaining 2% of interventions:

  • 70 were dispersed using reasonable force
  • 138 were issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
  • 32 were arrested

A full breakdown of interventions is available from Police Scotland:
https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/covid-19-policescotlandresponse/enforcement-and-response-data

Police Recorded Domestic Abuse Incidents

The number of Domestic Abuse incidents recorded in June 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 June 2020, incidents were also 9% higher than the equivalent period in 2019.

Bar chart showing the number of domestic abuse incidents per month between April to June 2020 with comparable figures from 2019.

In June 2020:

5,691 Domestic incidents recorded ↑ Up 9% since last year (5,209 incidents)

In April to June 2020:

17,252 Domestic incidents recorded ↑ Up 9% since last year (15,852 incidents)

The proportion of April to June 2020 incidents that include the recording of at least one crime or offence was 42.4%. 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 370 such crimes recorded by the police in April to June 2020, compared to 425 during the equivalent period in 2019 (down 13%).

Domestic Abuse Incidents per 10,000 population

Across Scotland as a whole the police recorded 32 domestic abuse incidents per 10,000 population during April to June 2020.

The local authorities with the highest rates were Dundee City (44), Clackmannanshire (42), West Lothian (40) and City of Glasgow (40).

Map highlighting which Local Authorities have a higher rate of domestic abuse incidents than the national average

Contact

Email: justice_analysts@gov.scot

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