Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report : June 2024

Community Safety

Summary statistics on community safety

• Improved public perception of local crime rate since 2008-09. The public feel safer in their local communities. The SCJS found that, in 2021-22, 76% of adults thought that the local crime rate had stayed the same or reduced in the past two years. This shows an improvement from 69% in 2008-09 and 73% in 2019-20.
• Most adults feel safe walking alone after dark. The SCJS found that over three-quarters (76%) of adults said that they felt very or fairly safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark in 2021-22, unchanged from 2019-20 but an increase from 66% in 2008-09.
• Just under half of adults say police are doing a good or excellent job. The SCJS reported that, in 2021-22, 49% of adults said that the police in their local area were doing a good or excellent job, down from 2019-20 (55%) and 61% in 2012-13.
• Number of fires fell 3% in the last year. In 2022-23, there were 26,825 fires in Scotland, down 3% on 2021-22 but 7% higher than in 2020-21. There were 42 fire fatalities in 2022-23, up from 40 in 2021-22 but similar to the number in most years across the last decade.

• Sharp fall in emergency hospital admissions due to assault since 2013-14. In 2022-23, there were 1,600 emergency hospital admissions due to assault, including 405 due to assault with a sharp object. These were, respectively, 48% and 31% lower than in 2013-14.

Further detail on fire statistics

There were 257 deliberate building fires in quarter 3 of 2023-24, up from 234 in the same quarter of 2022-23. Over the same period, the number of deliberate road vehicle fires fell from 187 to 161. There has been a long-term downward trend in deliberate building and deliberate road vehicle fires since this series began.

Unwanted fire alarm signals (UFAS) describe avoidable false alarm signals from a workplace, either from an automatic fire alarm or from a person. There were 3,428 UFAS incidents in quarter 3 of 2023-24, which made up 18% of all incidents attended in that quarter. This is down from the previous year where UFAS made up 35% of all incidents attended in that quarter. This decrease is attributed to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s new policy regarding UFAS incidents, which outlines a change in how automatic fire alarm call outs are managed.