Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2011-12

5. Commentary: Recorded crimes and offences by police force

This section provides commentary on the published figures by police force area.

Chart 4: Total number of crimes recorded per 10,000 population¹ in 2011-12 by police force area

1. Population estimates as at mid year 2011 from National Records of Scotland (http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/population/estimates/mid-year/2011/index.html)

Chart 4 shows that the number of crimes recorded per 10,000 population is higher in police forces which contain large cities, such as Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders, and lower in primarily rural police force areas such as Dumfries and Galloway, and Northern.

5.1 Central

The total number of crimes recorded by Central Scotland Police decreased by 4% between 2010-11 and 2011-12 to 16,257. Following an increase last year, the number of crimes recorded is now below the level recorded in 2009-10, where 16,402 crimes were recorded. Decreases were recorded in four of the five crime groups, the exception being Sexual offences where there was an increase of 20%.

The increase in the Sexual offences group between 2010-11 and 2011-12 was driven by a 85% increase in Other sexual offences.

The number of offences recorded in Central increased by 6% between 2010-11 and 2011-12. The increase in offences was driven by an 14% increase in Breach of the peace etc. and a 14% increase in Vehicle defect offences.

Clear up rates for all crime groups were above or the same as the Scotland average, the clear up rate for Other crimes was the same at 98%. But among all five crime groups the clear up rate recorded by Central Scotland Police decreased between 2010-11 and 2011-12. The largest decrease was 4 percentage points reported for both Non-sexual crimes of violence and crimes of Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief).

5.2 Dumfries & Galloway

Crimes recorded by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary decreased for the seventh year in succession and overall by 11% since 2010-11 to total 6,036. Only Sexual offences increased in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11, where there was an increase of 52%. This increase was as a result of increase in crimes of Sexual assault and Other sexual offences. The largest decrease reported was 16% for both Crimes of dishonesty and Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief). It should be noted that as Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the smallest police force the actual number of crimes recorded is small in comparison to larger forces such as Strathclyde Police or Lothian and Borders Police.

There was an increase of 2% in offences recorded by Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary. However there was a reduction in the miscellaneous offences category of 6%. The increase in the number of offences recorded was driven by a 4% increase in Motor vehicle offences.

The clear up rates for Sexual offences (85%), Crimes of dishonesty (60%) and Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief) (54%) were the highest rates recorded across all forces in 2011-12.

5.3 Fife

The number of crimes recorded by Fife Constabulary decreased for the seventh consecutive year and overall by 5% between 2010-11 and 2011-12 to total 17,848. There were decreases across all crime groups with the exception of Other crimes, which increased by 6%.

There was an increase of 1% in the number of offences recorded by Fife Constabulary. Within offences there was an increase of 6% in the number of Miscellaneous offences recorded and a decrease of 2% in the number of Motor vehicle offences. The increase in Miscellaneous offences was largely as a result of a 27% increase in Other miscellaneous offences, while the decrease in Motor vehicle offences was driven by a 9% decrease in Speeding offences.

The clear up rates increased across all crime and offence groups between 2010-11 and 2011-12, with the exception of Sexual offences and Other crimes which showed a 3 percentage point and 1 percentage point decrease respectively. The clear up rate for Non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 9 percentage points between 2010-11 and 2011-12 and is now the highest in Scotland, 22 percentage points above the Scotland average.

5.4 Grampian

The number of recorded crimes in the Grampian Police force area decreased by 5% between 2010-11 and 2011-12 to total 29,226 crimes. Decreases were recorded in all five crime groups between 2010-11 and 2011-12, with the Non-sexual crimes of violence group decreasing by 21%. The decrease in Sexual offences was minimal with the number of crimes only decreasing by 4 between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

The total number of offences recorded by Grampian Police remained broadly the same in 2011-12 as in 2010-11. The number of offences decreased from 54,292 in 2010-11 to 54,099 in 2011-12, the decrease being less than 1%.

The overall crime clear up rate for Grampian Police decreased by 1 percentage point between 2010-11 and 2011-12, leaving the overall crime clear up rate 1 percentage point lower than the Scotland average. The clear up rates for Crimes of dishonesty (1 percentage point), Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief) (3 percentage points) and Other crimes (1 percentage point) all decreased. The clear up rates for Non-sexual crimes of violence (3 percentage points) and Sexual offences (2 percentage points) both increased. The clear up rate for Other miscellaneous also increased by 2 percentage points between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

5.5 Lothian & Borders

Recorded crime in the Lothian and Borders Police force area decreased by 4% in 2011-12. The number of crimes decreased from 60,167 in 2010-11 to 57,471 in 2011-12. Decreases were reported in four of the five crime groups. The largest decreases were seen in Non-sexual crimes of violence, where the decrease was 10%, and Other crimes, where the decrease was 11%.

The crime group where there was an increase in the number of crimes was Sexual offences. The increase between 2010-11 and 2011-12 was 30%. Within Sexual offences each of the subcategories showed increases of at least 9%. Offences associated with prostitution increased by 50% and Other sexual offences increased by 78%.

The number of offences recorded by Lothian and Borders Police decreased by 4% between 2010-11 and 2011-12. Within the two offence groups Miscellaneous offences increased by 1% while Motor vehicle offences decreased by 6%. Speeding offences did increase by 9% but this was more than offset by a reduction of 18% in the number of Other motor vehicle offences which reduced from 19,312 in 2010-11 to 15,872 in 2011-12.

The overall clear up rate for crimes for Lothian and Borders Police was 44% in 2011-12, 5 percentage points lower than the Scotland average. The clear up rates increased for Non-sexual offences of violence and Crimes of dishonesty both increasing by 1 percentage point while the clear up rate for Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief) increased by 2 percentage points. Despite the large increase in the number of Sexual offences the clear up rate remained at 66% in 2011-12, the same as in 2010-11.

5.6 Northern

The number of crimes recorded by Northern Constabulary remained broadly the same in 2011-12 as in 2010-11. There was a decrease of 28 crimes, which equates to a decrease of less that 1%. Northern Constabulary reported reductions in four of the five crime groups, the largest being the reduction of 14% for Sexual offences. These reductions were mainly offset by an 11% increase in Other crimes. This increase was driven by a 19% increase in the number of Drug crimes.

There was a 4% increase in the number of offences recorded by Northern Constabulary in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11. Miscellaneous offences increased by 3% and Motor vehicle offences increased by 5%. Within Miscellaneous offences there was an increase of 9% in the Breach of the peace etc. subcategory but also a 15% decrease in Drunkenness offences. The increase in Motor vehicle offences was driven by a 15% increase in Speeding offences.

The clear up rates for Northern Constabulary increased for all five crime groups as well as Miscellaneous offences in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11. The overall clear up rate for crimes was 67%, which is 18 percentage points higher than the Scotland average. The clear up rate for Sexual offences increased by 8 percentage points to 81%. This follows a reduction in the clear up rate of 11 percentage points between 2009-10 and 2010-11. The clear up rate for Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief) increased by 7 percentage points and is now at the highest level since 2003-04 when it was also 48%.

5.7 Strathclyde

The number of crimes recorded by Strathclyde Police Force increased by 1% between 2010-11 and 2011-12 to total 154,787. This is the first increase in the total number of crimes since 2006-07 but is still below the level reported in 2009-10. There were reductions in Non-sexual crimes of violence and Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief), the larger decrease being 20% for Non-sexual crimes of violence. There were increases reported for the remaining three crime groups. The number of Sexual offences increased by 12% between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

The total number of offences recorded by Strathclyde Police increased from 255,428 in 2010-11 to 270,176 in 2011-12, an increase of 6%. Miscellaneous offences increased by only 1% whereas Motor vehicle offences increased by 10%. The 10% increase was driven by a 19% increase in Speeding offences and a 9% increase in Other motor vehicle offences.

The clear up rates for all the crimes groups are lower for Strathclyde Police than the Scotland average, except for Other crimes where they are both 98%. In 2011-12, the clear up rates for three of the five groups increased while the other two remained the same as in 2010-11. The clear up rates for Non-sexual crimes of violence and Sexual offences both increased by 5 percentage points. The clear up rate for Non-sexual crimes of violence was 71%, which is the highest rate in over a decade.

In addition the clear up rate for Miscellaneous offences also increased by 2 percentage points in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11.

5.8 Tayside

The number of crimes recorded by Tayside Police Force decreased for the seventh consecutive year and overall by 16% between 2010-11 and 2011-12 to total 19,005. The 16% decrease was the largest reported among the eight police forces. There were decreases in four of the five crime groups in 2011-12. Non-sexual crimes of violence decreased by 10%, Crimes of dishonesty decreased by 17%, Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief) decreased by 24% and Other crimes decreased by 3%. The only crime group to report an increase was Sexual offences, where the increase was 7%.

For each subcategory within Crimes of dishonesty there was at least an 11% reduction in the number of crimes in 2011-12 compared to 2010-11. The 24% reduction for Vandalism (including Fire-raising and Malicious mischief) was driven by a 25% decrease for Vandalism etc.

The number of offences recorded by Tayside Police decreased by 5% compared with 2010-11. The decrease in the number of offences was driven by a 17% reduction in the number of Miscellaneous offences as there was a 1% increase in the number of Motor vehicle offences. The majority of the decrease in Miscellaneous offences was due to a 27% reduction in Breach of the peace etc. offences.

In 2011-12, Tayside Police reported reductions in the clear-up rates for three of the five crime groups compared with 2010-11. The clear up rate for Sexual offences decreased by 14 percentage points, the lowest clear up rate in over a decade. The clear up rate for Crimes of dishonesty increased by 1 percentage point and the clear up rate for Other crimes remained the same as in 2010-11. With the exception of Sexual offences, following the decrease of 14 percentage points, the clear up rate for the other four crime groups were higher than the Scotland average in 2011-12. The clear up rate for Miscellaneous remained at the same level as in 2010-11 at 87%, 3 percentage points higher than the Scotland average.

Chart 5: Number of domestic housebreaking¹ crimes recorded by the police per 10,000 population² in 2011-12

1. Includes dwellings and non-dwellings only.
2. Population estimates as at mid year 2011 from National Records of Scotland
(http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/population/estimates/mid-year/2011/index.html)