Councillor’s concern over sex crimes stats

CONCERNS have been raised about an increase in sex crimes committed in Inverclyde.

New statistics for the period AprilSeptember reveal an increase of 11.5 per cent on the previous five-year average, to a total of 68 crimes.

The police detection rate has dropped marginally, by 1.4 per cent to 41.2 per cent.

Almost a quarter of all of the recorded sex crimes were ‘cyber-enabled’, including the distribution of indecent images and sexual extortion.

The figures were discussed at a meeting of the local police scrutiny panel, where Councillor Jim Clocherty asked about the origin of the cases.

Cllr Clocherty said: “Are we seeing an increase in general terms or is this masked by historical cases?”

The meeting was presented with a report saying that around a third of the crimes involved ‘non-recent’ reporting.

Questions Councillor Jim Clocherty

Chief Superintendent Laura Caldwell said she appreciated that any increase in sex crime would be concerning, but added that the figures should be put in context.

She said she viewed the increase in ‘positive terms’, as it meant more victims had the courage to come forward to report such offences.

Ch Supt Caldwell added: “Though looking at the cold facts I can understand it can be particularly worrying for a parent. You obviously don’t want an increase in this type of crime.

“It’s a big step to report a crime of this nature to police and we need to ensure we have the support round about it.

“We have really good collaboration with our partners and dedicated officers and within our teams.”

Speaking to the Telegraph after the meeting, Cllr Clocherty said he was particularly concerned about the safety of young women and cyber crime.

He said: “Cyber bullying and the sexual content online is something that I had never experienced when I was growing up.

“Young people can be vulnerable.” Meanwhile the panel heard that 376 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded over April, May, June, July and August.

This represents an increase of 1.7 per cent against the five year average.

The detection rate of the police in this area increased against the five year average, going from 67.5 per cent to 74.7 per cent.