Group 1: Violence
Violent crime occurs throughout society in both public and private locations. Research
and experience shows that alcohol and/or drugs are often contributory factors to
violent behaviour.
In an attempt to combat violent crime, the police along with partner agencies, can
influence behaviour to a limited extent by various means including:
- Increased patrols at identified problem areas:
- Ensuring compliance with licensing legislation;
- Initiatives targeting specific individuals or groups;and
- Initiatives targeting the carrying of knives and other offensive weapons.
Group 2: Crimes of Indecency
Two specific factors have a direct impact on the end of month figures for crimes
of indecency:
a) Many crimes in this category tend to have been committed prior to
the reporting period e.g. a person who was a victim of this type of crime as a child
reporting the incident when they reach adulthood. There are often fluctuations in
the figures as investigations uncover evidence to allow multiple crime reports to
be submitted.
b) The new Sexual Offences (Scotland)Act 2009 became effective from
1st December 2010. The Act aims to tackle the widespread criticism of the current
law surrounding rape and other sexual offences, particularly the gender specific
nature of the common law offence of rape this will lead to an increase in rape records.Also
there are a number of crimes now covered by the Act previously recorded elsewhere
i.e. either as a Communications Act or possibly a Breach of the Peace. In addition
there may be instances where the crime will be reported under both the common law
and the statutory acts.
It should be noted that due to the extremely sensitive and often difficult nature
of enquiries for this group no proceedings may be taken for a number of justifiable
reasons. Forces can therefore mark a crime as “enquiries concluded” if it fits specific
criteria e.g. there is an identified, definitive suspect. It should therefore be
noted that whilst a crime may still be undetected, it may be that the investigation
has concluded.
Group 3: Crimes of dishonesty
Crimes within this group involve theft from or attempted theft from individuals,
buildings and businesses. The impact that this type of theft has on society is great.In
terms of theft or attempted theft from property can leave the victim with an element
of fear and feeling unsafe. The impact of this theft can also be costly and timely
for the victim to rectify and replace. The variation in this group from year to
year can vary due to the activity undertaken of perpetual criminal activity and/or
groups travelling criminals across divisions and also the country
Group 4: Crimes of fireraising, malicious and reckless conduct
Crimes within this group have fallen significantly over the last year and key contributors
to this are assessed to include work around community policing developments and
greater collaboration through community safety partnerships.
Group 5: Drugs and other crimes
Crimes within this group are often regarded as a measure of the amount of ‘proactive’
work a police force undertakes. The crimes included within this group are often
crimes against society rather than individuals. The nature of these crimes means
that a very high detection rate is normal for this group.
The key and distinctive feature about this crime group is that an increase in numbers
usually reflects the success of police activity, rather than an increase in victims.
When the statistics in this group decrease, it is usually a sign of officers having
been deployed to other policing priorities and having less time to detect offences
during routine patrol.
One of the main crime types within this group is that of drugs. Whilst the figure
for drugs may be low, this is not necessarily a sign of lack of proactive work.
The force can spend considerable amount of time gathering intelligence and evidence
to dismantle organised crime groups dealing drugs. Apprehending a major drug dealer
may have little impact on the crime statistics, with potentially only one or two
offences recorded. The apprehension of the person may have an impact on the community
and can result in significantly reducing the availability of drugs in the area.
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