Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Increase in number of reported sex offences
POLICE chiefs have hailed a “successful” year — despite a rise of a third in sexual offences.
Figures released by Police Scotland show that the number of recorded rapes increased by 36.8% and the number of sexual assaults rose by 30.1% in the last year.
Superintendent Graeme Murdoch, of Tayside Division, said that, in most areas, the last year had been “successful”.
He added: “Overall, recorded crime in Dundee rose by around 200 crimes.
“About half of these were sexual crimes and the other half were a consequence of our success with proactive policing to address the ongoing scourge of drugs in the city.”
The rise in sexual offences and rapes reported was largely attributed to victims of historical offences coming forward.
And Supt Murdoch said there had been proactive investigations by the Tayside Division’s domestic abuse unit.
He said: “A significant percentage of these crimes are non-recent in nature.
“We continue to encourage this type of reporting. A crime is a crime no matter how long ago it happened.”
Sinead Daly, manager of the Women’s Rape And Sexual Abuse Centre — Dundee and Angus, said it’s good women were coming forward and had the increased confidence to do so.
She said: “Despite the increasing numbers coming forward, there is still a significant number who aren’t reporting incidents because of the stigma associated with these crimes.
“We have a new project in place where women can come into our centre to speak to an advocacy worker who will tell them what’s involved in reporting a crime of this nature and tell them the processes they will go through. They will liaise with the police on their behalf so they don’t have to keep reliving the ordeal.
“There is also the SARN (Sexual Assault Referral Network) where people can come into our centre and report a sexual crime. If they are not ready to report the crime to the police, SARN can gather the necessary evidence and store it until the victim feels ready to contact police.”
Six murders were committed in the city in 2016/17 — up from one the previous year.
Supt Murdoch said: “While this cannot be seen as a trend, what is important is that every one of these crimes is a tragedy for the families involved. The 2016/17 period was unusual in that on two occasions there was more than one victim.”
He added that last year the force had put a focus on tackling housebreaking and its efforts appeared to have paid off. He said: “The community always tells us this is a high priority. We were really successful in stopping a series of crimes involving housebreakings and the theft of vehicles and we now have more regular contact with neighbouring divisions in this regard.”