SNP ROCKED BY CRIME CRISIS AS OFFENCES SOAR
++ Murders up by 40% ++ Police attacks at a 5-year high
MURDERS in Scotland have soared by nearly 40 per cent in the past year.
The dramatic increase comes amid a sharp rise in violent crime.
Police Scotland figures show cases of violence have shot up by 15 per cent, while sex offences rose by 6 per cent. But only around half of all crime is ‘cleared up’ by police and there has been a fall of eight percentage points in the detection rate for sex crimes.
ministers have repeatedly hailed a fall in recorded crime to historic lows over the past decade as proof that the public are safer under the SNP.
The single force said yesterday it had ‘improved how it reports its performance to make it easier for the public to understand how its work impacts on the safety of communities’.
A new-style performance report, providing evidence of progress in meeting ‘strategic outcomes’, will be presented at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) board meeting in Stirling tomorrow.
But Police Scotland figures released yesterday – comparing April to June this year with the same period last year – show rising violence and sex crime.
The number of murders has leapt from 13 to 18 – a rise of around 38 per cent –
while reports of sex crimes rose by more than 6 per cent from 1,450 to 1,540.
Reports of rape and attempted rape rose from 586 to 613 – nearly 5 per cent.
Non-sexual crimes of violence are up from 2,064 to 2,375 – 15 per cent – while the overall number of crimes of all types recorded has grown from 62,377 to 65,107 – up 4.4 per cent.
Detections – where police find a suspect and send a report to the procurator fiscal – for all crimes have risen slightly from 50 to 50.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, crimes involving offensive and bladed weapons increased from 2,243 to 2,569 – nearly 15 per cent.
Police also pointed out there were 414 crimes recorded under the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which widens the definition of domestic abuse to include coercive control of partners.
The detection rate for non-sexual violent crimes has risen from 69.9 per cent to 70.4 per cent but, for sex crimes, it has fallen from 61.1 to 52.9, a reduction of 8.2 percentage points. The rape and attempted rape detection rate is only 52.5 per cent, down from 53.4 per cent the previous year. For murder, it has improved from 84.6 per cent to 88.9 per cent.
Last night, Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said the force’s new way of reporting crime would provide a more accurate picture, although the old-style raw data will continue to be published.
She said that the new figures ‘provide a consistent focus for national activity, while being broad enough to accommodate and support localism in delivery’. Mrs Taylor added: ‘We used information on demand, crime figures and detection rates, along with benchmarking against other services and organisations, and the insights of officers and staff to describe progress in making positive impacts on the lives of citizens and communities.
‘I’m confident this accessible way of reporting will enhance understanding and scrutiny of police work by the SPA, elected representatives and the public. It’s our firm belief the more people understand our work, the more they support us.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Scotland’s firm focus on prevention, responsive policing and local partnerships to help individuals and communities keep themselves safe, has had a positive impact on long-term crime trends and people’s feeling of safety.
‘While the figures are provisional, we recognise overall violent crime has been reducing over a long
‘Still hell-bent on emptying prisons’
period. We also welcome this early indication Scotland’s new domestic abuse laws are encouraging victims to come forward and report these crimes – accounting for the suggested increase in non-sexual violence – while providing police and prosecutors with greater powers to target those who engage in coercive or controlling behaviour towards their partners or ex-partners.
‘We all want victims to have the confidence to report crimes against them to the police, including those which may have taken place some time in the past.’
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘The SNP must not ignore these shocking figures on the latest rise in violent and sexual crime. The increasing number of victims of violent and sexual crime will completely disagree with the SNP’s view that Scotland is safer.
‘Despite this trend, the SNP is still hell-bent on emptying our prisons and releasing criminals into the community to offend again.’