Crime almost halved over past decade

Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf praised the work of police and wider public services for the “substantial” drop in crime.

Figures in the latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) show that crime is down 46 per cent since 2008/09, with violent crime having fallen by nearly two-fifths (39 per cent) over the same period.

There were an estimated 194,000 violent crimes committed in Scotland, of the 563,000 total offences, in 2019/20, accounting for 34 per cent of all crimes.

The SCJS, which interviewed around 5,600 adults before Covid-19 restrictions came into effect, also shows people are now less likely to be a victim – with one-in-eight (11.9 per cent) of adults experiencing crime compared to one-in-five (20.4 per cent) in 2008/09.

As with the previous year, adults in Scotland were less likely to have experienced crime than those in England and Wales during 2019/20, with victimisation rates of 11.9 per cent and 13.3 per cent respectively.

Adults experiencing multiple victimisation – a victim of at least two incidents – fell from 8.2 per cent to 3.6 per cent between 2008/09 and 2019/20, representing 57 per cent of all SCJS crime in the previous year.

One in every 100 adults were victims of repeated incidents of violence, but their experiences accounted for almost two-thirds of violent crime in 2019/20.

Property crime was down from 18 per cent to 10 per cent, with the estimated number of incidents almost halved (down 49 per cent) over this period.

More people (77 per cent in 2019/20 compared to 66 per cent ten years ago) report feeling very or fairly safe walking alone in their local area after dark.

However, while both men and women were more likely to feel safe in their communities in 2019/20 than 2008/09, men remain more likely to feel safe – 90 per cent compared to 65 per cent of women.

The survey identified that one-in-eight female respondents (12.5 per cent) had experienced both psychological and physical abuse since the age of 16, while just under one-in-20 (4.8 per cent) of males had.

Mr Yousaf said: “This latest national survey underlines the findings from other official sources, such as recorded crime and hospital admissions data, that crime including violent crime, has fallen substantially over the last decade.

“This is down to the work of police, wider public services, the third sector and communities themselves – supported by Scotland’s firm focus on early intervention and prevention work, through the work of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and Medics Against Violence and our No Knives Better Lives and Mentors in Violence Prevention programmes.

“However, the survey shows that both the falls in crime, and improved perceptions of safety have not been equally felt. Building on our progress in reducing violent crime, we are working to tackle violence against women and girls.”

Mr Yousaf said this included new police and courts powers to remove suspected abusers from victims’ homes under the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Bill passed this week.

“However, just as we have cut violent crime through a combination of legal changes and wider education and community interventions, so too it falls on many of us – politicians, parents, friends and work colleagues – to play our part in tackling violence against women, including the misogyny that frequently underlies it,” he added.

“While most people do not experience crime, the Scottish government continues to strengthen how the justice system, wider public services and charities support those who do fall victim to crime.

“We have invested more than £75 million in support for victims over the past five years and we are increasing our resource funding by £1.5 million in next year’s justice budget to fund wide-ranging support to victims. At the same time the Victims Taskforce I established in 2018 continues to drive forward system improvements to ensure that victims remain at the heart of Scotland’s justice system.”

The results of the SCJS come as latest figures show crimes recorded by Police Scotland were 16 per cent lower in February this year than in February 2020, down from 18,992 to 15,9791.

The figures show:

• Non-sexual crimes of violence were six per cent lower (down from 694 to 653);
• Sexual crimes fell nine per cent (down from 1,124 to 1,020;
• Crimes of dishonesty were 28 per cent lower (down from 8,843 to 6,405); and
• Fire-raising, vandalism, etc, were down 17 per cent (reducing from 3,656 to 3,019 crimes).

However, ‘other crimes’ were four per cent higher (increasing from 4,675 to 4,882).

The number of offences recorded by Police Scotland also fell in February compared with the same month last year, down 20 per cent from 19,222 to 15,352.

Motor vehicle offences were down 19 per cent (from 9,694 to 7,812) while miscellaneous offences were 21 per cent lower (down from 9,528 to 7,540).

Overall, the number of crimes recorded by Police Scotland between April 2020 and February 2021 was seven per cent lower than the same period in the previous year.