Recorded Crime in Scotland: June 2020

Main findings

Crimes recorded by the police

In June 2020, the police recorded 20,440 crimes. This is 3% lower (or 644 crimes) than the 21,084 crimes recorded in the same month of 2019. There were variations in the year-on-year trends between different crime types. (Table 1, Chart 1).

Between June 2019 and June 2020:

• Non-sexual crimes of violence were 15% lower (or 129 crimes), reducing from 851 to 722. The main contributor to this reduction was Attempted murder & serious assault, which fell by 33% (or 145 crimes). Over the same period, crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 reduced by 13% (or 19 crimes) from 142 to 123 crimes. There were increases in both Robbery and Other violence, up by 19% and 15% respectively.
• Sexual crimes were 5% higher (or 61 crimes), increasing from 1,123 to 1,184 crimes. The main contributor to this increase was Other sexual crimes, which increased by 33% or 161 crimes (the biggest drivers being sexual communications type offences). There were decreases in all other categories of Sexual crime (including 5% for Rape & attempted rape, and 20% for Sexual assault).
• Crimes of dishonesty were 15% lower (or 1,471 crimes), reducing from 9,655 to 8,184 crimes. The main contributors to this reduction were a 41% fall in levels of Shoplifting (or 1,160 crimes) and a 16% reduction in Other theft (down 588 crimes). Over the same period, the number of frauds recorded was 75% higher, increasing by 662 to 1,542 crimes. The Changes in levels of recorded fraud section below provides users with further background on what may be contributing to this change.
• Fire-raising, vandalism etc. was 9% lower (or 343 crimes), reducing from 3,867 to 3,524 crimes. The main contributor to this reduction was Vandalism etc., which fell by 9%, or 346 crimes.
• Other crimes were 22% higher (or 1,238 crimes), increasing from 5,588 to 6,826 crimes. The main contributors to this increase were Crimes against public justice, which rose by 41% (or 670 crimes) and Drugs crime, which increased by 16% (or 493 crimes).

Offences recorded by the police

In June 2020, the police recorded 21,892 offences. This is 1% higher (or 247 offences) than the 21,645 offences recorded in the same month in 2019. There was a 4% increase in Miscellaneous offences, and a 2% decrease in Motor vehicle offences, as detailed below (Table 2).

Between June 2019 and June 2020:

• Miscellaneous offences increased by 4% (or 427 offences), from 11,454 to 11,881. This was driven by increases in several categories, including Other miscellaneous offences (up 57% or 594 offences), Breach of the peace etc. (up 6% or 282 offences) and Drunkenness and other disorderly conduct (up 46% or 280 offences). These increases were partially offset by a reduction in Common assault, which was 13% or 646 offences lower.
• Motor vehicle offences were 2% lower (or 180 offences), reducing from 10,191 to 10,011. The main contributors to this reduction were Other motor vehicle offences (which fell by 22% or 420 offences) and Speeding, which fell by 11% (or 299 offences). There were increases in Driving under the influence (54% or 276 offences), (Unlawful use of a vehicle up 8% or 234 offences) and Dangerous and careless driving (up 15% or 135 offences).

Local Authorities

Compared to June 2019, a reduction in recorded crime was seen in 17 (53%) out of 32 local authorities, with the remaining 15 showing an increase (Table 3). The largest decrease was seen in the Shetland Islands (down 37%) and largest increase was in Na h-Eileanan Siar (up 139%). It should be noted that the relatively small number of crimes recorded in some of Scotland’s local authorities can fluctuate over time - leading to large percentage changes. This is particularly relevant in this release, where monthly data is being presented rather than the annual information provided in the National Statistics.

The biggest contributors by volume to the overall reduction in crimes recorded by the police were Glasgow City (down 9% or 329 crimes), followed by Edinburgh City (down 11% or 269 crimes) and Fife (down 14% or 173 crimes).

April to June 2020 compared with April to June 2019

Overall, in April to June 2020 the police recorded 58,198 crimes, a reduction of 9% (or 5,602 crimes) compared to the same period in 2019 (63,800 crimes) (Table 4). The biggest drivers of this reduction by volume were Shoplifting (down 42% or 3,526 crimes), Vandalism etc. (down 20% or 2,299 crimes) and Other theft (down 21% or 2,297 crimes). Crimes against public justice saw the biggest increase over this period, growing by 37% (or 1,782 crimes) from 4,811 to 6,593 crimes. Fraud was also higher, increasing by 62% (or 1,564 crimes) from 2,508 to 4,072.

Over the same period, the number of offences recorded by the police was 11% lower (or 7,000 offences), with Miscellaneous offences falling by 4% (or 1,363 offences) and Motor vehicle offences falling by 18% (or 5,637 offences) (Table 5).