Long, hard slog to bring down Scotland’s stagnant levels of grim offences

AT first glance, a 21 per cent increase in violent crime convictions is pretty staggering – especially for a country that has received worldwide praise for its efforts to tackle such crimes.

However, it is important to remember that figures in the

Criminal Proceedings Scotland publication relate to the number of people convicted of crime, not the crimes themselves.

And, as Will Linden, deputy director of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit points out, the corresponding crime figures – while showing a small rise – do not indicate a comparable jump.

But that does not mean that everything is rosey; the fact is that violent crime in Scotland is still stagnantly high.

After making sizeable and commendable cuts to violence, including halving the number of homicides in Scotland, the SVRU admits the country is now facing a “hard slog” to drive it down further.

With research suggesting that more than 60% of the violence in Scotland can be attributed to less than 1% of the population, systemic change has to take place to bring that small group along with the rest of us.

As Mr Linden put it: “For everyone else in Scotland, the chance of being assaulted or taking part in violence has reduced significantly, but there’s still a population who are more likely to be participating in or be the victim of violence.

“And that’s the bit that’s going to require a significant shift.”

Poverty, trauma, mental health issues, addiction and a general lack of belonging or aspiration are all drivers for violence, and these are issues that are not easily tackled.

But with the will (and the funding) there are changes that could take place to at least make improvements for the benefit of not just the 1%, but for us all.