Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Increase in sexual crimes in Dundee
There was a spike in the number of sexual allegations reported to police in the first half of this year (2016/17) compared to the same period last year.
And Superintendent Graeme Murdoch, of Tayside Division, said that this was down to victims of crimes from several years ago coming forward to speak.
Supt Murdoch told the Tele: “Police continue to receive high percentages of reports of crimes of a sexual nature which are non-recent.
“Dundee is above the national average in this respect. Many non-recent crimes are either more difficult or take longer to detect.
“We consider that the increase is also in part a reflection of the increased level of confidence the public has in reporting this type of crime to the police with the knowledge that every complaint will be handled sensitively and professionally.” Historic sex crimes that predated 2009 went up from four to 16 year-on-year.
There were 256 sexual crimes reported to officers between April and September —up from 198 the year before — including 26 more rapes.
Sinead Daly, manager at the Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in Dudhope Street, said the figures “did not come as a shock”. The centre reported a 15% increase in referrals last year.
Meanwhile, the number of violent crimes committed between April and September increased over the same period last year.
But the detection rate has dropped from 94% for the same period last year to 80.4% for 2016. Despite that, Supt Murdoch said: “We do not view this as being an indicator of a trend.”
Drug possession crimes have increased by almost 50%, from 26.9 recorded incidences per 10,000 people in 2015-16 to 39.3 in 2016-17.
In addition, detection rates for drug crimes dropped from 91.7% to 85.2%.
Supt Murdoch added: “The significant increase in drugs crimes reflect police use of intelligence and general pro-activity. That is really positive.
“Although there are slight increases in recorded crime in some areas, assaults overall and general antisocial behaviour have reduced in Dundee during the first six months of the year.”
POLICE are receiving more reports of historical sex crimes in Dundee than other parts of Scotland, officers revealed today.