Crime drops ..but fewer cases solved

Published on Wednesday 1 October 2008 09:49

THE number of crimes reported in the Lothians has reportedly fallen by 7500 in a year – but police are getting worse at solving them.

A Scottish Government study which hailed crime levels in Scotland as being at their lowest level for 25 years has also revealed the Lothian force is the joint worst for catching offenders.

Just 44 per cent of cases are cleared-up in the Lothians, where crime is said to have fallen by ten per cent in the last year.

That represents a slight drop on last year's detection rate and is below the national average of 48 per cent. And Edinburgh found itself ranking 27th of out of 32 Scottish council areas for the percentage of its crimes being solved. High volumes of offences which are difficult to detect, such as vandalism and shoplifting, were cited as possible factors behind the low standing.

Police chiefs today welcomed the drop in overall recorded crime, adding that the force was dedicated to continuing the trend.

But critics said the public had "lost faith" in the justice system, with just one in four crimes actually being reported.

A police source said: "The bosses won't be too happy to be placed bottom as improving detection rates are always being pushed by those at the top. Departments also like being seen to get results.

"But the overall rates are hard to move up because so many crimes committed in the force area, particularly the low-level stuff, are difficult to solve. We get lots of thefts, whether shoplifting or thieves dipping bags in pubs.

"Vandalism, with its sheer scale in the city as well as West Lothian and Midlothian, is also problematic. That pulls us down too.

"High, if not complete, clear-ups on murders, violence and sexual offences will always be the most important priorities. That's where resources are poured in."

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken MSP said he believed that many other crimes went unreported, artificially bringing down the figures. He added: "Overall there does appear to have been a fall in the total number of crimes and offences, which we must welcome.

"However, if the Victim Support AGM which I attended last Monday is anything to go by, the situation is still totally unacceptable. With only one out of four crimes reported to the police, and only about ten per cent of crimes recorded actually resulting in a conviction, it is hardly surprising that the public has lost faith in the Scottish justice system.

"Let us not forget that in recent years fixed penalty notices have been extended to include much more serious actions. Whereas most people will associate them with offences such as parking on a yellow line, notices can in fact now be handed out for crimes such as drunken rioting in a pub and vandalism."

Councillor Gordon Munro, who represents the Leith ward, agreed that some Edinburgh residents remained unwilling to report crimes.

He said: "There are still people who are reluctant to call the police over things like youth disorder or antisocial behaviour. Sometimes it's because they are inured to it, like with the street drinkers at the Foot of Leith Walk. Or they think that police have bigger things to deal with.

"I always encourage people to make reports to police as it's the only way they can properly gauge the extent of any problems."

The latest figures were published yesterday in the annual report of Recorded Crime in Scotland, which covered the period between April last year and March. The report found that violent crimes, such as serious assaults and robbery, fell in Lothian and Borders along with sex crimes, thefts, housebreakings, vandalism, handling an offensive weapon and drug offences.

However, the force area posted the second-highest number of crimes per 10,000 population in the country behind only Strathclyde, with 768 compared to 825.

The study included the clear-up rates for different crimes where police gathered sufficient evidence to merit prosecutions. In the last year, the clear-up rate for all crimes in the Lothian and Borders area was 44 per cent, a one per cent drop on 2006/7, but a four per cent fall on the year before that.

For Edinburgh, the figure was 42 per cent, above only West Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and North Lanarkshire, while Glasgow was at 46 per cent and Aberdeen 47 per cent. Northern Police topped the national table at 61 per cent with Dumfries and Galloway Police next at 61 per cent followed by Central at 60 per cent.

A police spokeswoman said: "We welcome the overall decrease in the amount of recorded crime across the force area, and rest assured that efforts will continue to ensure that this is a continuing trend. The force is pro-actively targeting a wide range of criminal activity on a daily basis.

"It should be noted that there has been a significant drop in crimes of indecency, particularly rape and attempted rape. However, housebreaking remains an issue within the force area, and that is why it was identified as a key policing priority in this year's policing plan for the city of Edinburgh.

"We want to reassure people that we will be working hard over the coming months to address this issue, while at the same time continue to build on our successes in other areas."

Across Scotland as a whole, the number of crimes reported to police fell by eight per cent, its lowest level in a quarter of a century, with 35,000 fewer being recorded.

RACIALLY AGGRAVATED OFFENCES ON RISE

RACIALLY aggravated crimes have increased in the Lothians for the fourth year running, according to the figures.

The number of recorded offences rose by only six against the previous year, but the total of 1138 represents a massive jump on the 302 reported in 2003/4.

Residents in Edinburgh also live in the council area with the second highest likelihood of being a victim of a housebreaking, with 64 carried out for every 10,000 inhabitants.

A fall of 21 per cent in vehicle thefts was highlighted in the report. Its authors proposed that improved security on modern cars, such as immobilisers, may be responsible but said no detailed analysis had been carried out on the trend.