Shedding light on the Capital's crime hotspots

Published on Thursday 13 March 2008 09:40

New breakdown of offences identifies safest and most dangerous neighbourhoods to live in.

THE worst and best areas of Edinburgh for violence, vandalism, and car crime can be revealed today.

A new "crime map" of the Capital shows that while the city centre sees 40 offences committed daily, other parts of Edinburgh record fewer than one.

The breakdown identifies the New Town as the worst location for crime levels, and Balerno and Ratho as the lowest.

The number of overall crimes has stayed relatively constant for the last two years, hovering at around 72,000 annually – or 200 a day – and city leaders today said Edinburgh remained a "very safe place to live".

Despite topping the poll, police chiefs said offences in the heart of the city had fallen in recent years and the trend was set to continue.

&#149 Click here to see the crime figures for your area - use the + and - buttons to adjust the size

The New Town saw the highest number of violent crimes recorded, with 93 during last year, while the area also saw the largest volume of crimes of dishonesty, such as thefts and housebreakings.

Niddrie was worst for vandalism and car crime, while South Leith recorded the highest volume of sex crimes.

The figures, obtained by the Evening News under freedom of information laws, also shed light on the least affected locations.

The lowest overall crime figure last year was on the Balerno/Ratho beat, where only 330 offences were recorded, a 32 per cent drop on 2006. The statistic included three sex crimes and five crimes of violence. Dean/Comely Bank was next safest at 331, followed by Craiglockhart at 345.

Inspector Bruce Johnston, sector inspector for the city centre, explained why he believed his area recorded the highest number of crimes.

The city centre takes in the West End, Waverley and New Town beats, covering locations such as Princes Street, George Street, Lothian Road, Tollcross, the Royal Mile and the Cowgate. Insp Johnston said the area's "daytime and night-time economy" attracted a large numbers of serial shoplifters and other thieves, while alcohol-related disorder followed in their wake after dark.

He said: "The city centre has rich pickings during the day and that attracts criminals, many of whom steal to support a drug addiction. A relatively small number of repeat offenders can skew the figures and it's those people we are now targeting successfully.

"Between April 2006 and March 2007 the city centre recorded 12,484 offences, of which 5000 were shoplifting and other thefts. We had 46 serious assaults during that period, which is not even one a week and which, for a capital city, is superb. Estimates show that 250,000 people enter the city centre each weekend, while 23,000 live here, so the likelihood of being attacked is very low."

Insp Johnston added that 540 licensed premises were located in the city centre, including 243 bars and 33 nightclubs.

He said: "There's a huge concentration of licensed premises, which leads to antisocial behaviour such as minor assaults and breach of the peace cases. These also account for nearly 4000 of the total offences recorded in the area."

The force has launched a crackdown in recent years on repeat offenders in the city centre while working closer with licensees to reduce alcohol-related crime. A team of retail officers was established to work with shops and clamp down on serial thieves.

Officers worked with council chiefs to secure an Asbo against handbag thief James McMillan, who was banned from a two-square-mile area in the heart of the city in July 2006 after committing 180 offences over a three-year period.

Insp Johnston pointed out other recent measures designed to make the city centre a safer place, including a police licensing team which focuses on trouble hotspots, an increase in foot patrols, and the Unight scheme which bans offenders from every nightclub in the area if they commit an offence in any member venue.

The new "crime map" figures also revealed that South Leith was the worst beat in the force area for sex crimes, such as rapes and indecent assaults, with 124, nearly three times more than the New Town, which was second. But it is believed that many of these offences were of a "historical nature" and were committed outside the two-year period.

Vandalism and fire-raising hit its highest levels in Niddrie, with 644 crimes reported, followed by Wester Hailes at 519 then Armadale and Blackridge in West Lothian with 494.

The Waverley beat, which includes the Royal Mile and Cowgate, topped the league table for drug offences at 702, with Southside second at 503.

Cllr Alastair Paisley, whose Pentlands ward takes in the relative "safe havens" of Ratho and Balerno, said: "I'm delighted to hear that this is one of the safest places and it reaffirms that the Pentlands ward is the nicest place to live in Edinburgh."

Explaining why he thought statistics showed it was one of the safest, he said: "There are very strong community councils and very strong neighbourhood watch groups. People are very proactive and if they see anything suspicious, they are straight on the phone. Also, Ratho is a long way to come for a burglar, and it's like an island, as there aren't many ways out."

As well as recording the most cases of vandalism, Niddrie, which has been a hotspot for teenage joyriders stealing cars, had the greatest number of traffic offences – 660 – for 2007. Most were committed by young car thieves driving without insurance or licences.

Area community councillor Norrie Davis said: "We get various statistics from police which suggest other places are worse, but they're not broken down. I would like to see these in detail and get an explanation from police. This is a very large area and takes in a good seven or eight different communities, and some are worse affected than the others."

City Conservative leader Cllr Iain Whyte, who is also convener of the Lothian and Borders joint police board, said: "Edinburgh is a very safe city in which to live, especially when compared with other cities. There are new initiatives going on in terms of city centre policing and in wider communities. The general trend of reported crime has been reducing, and I hope that continues, but it will need continued work by both the police and the council."