3. Commentary: Introduction
3.1 Trends in the recorded crime figures since 2004/05 have been affected by the introduction of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard ( SCRS) which, as anticipated, increased the numbers of minor crimes recorded by the police, such as minor crimes of vandalism and minor thefts.
3.2 Unfortunately it was not possible to estimate the exact impact of the new recording standard on the recorded crime figures because, around the time that the new standard was implemented, police also introduced centralised call centres which encouraged the reporting of incidents to the police. It had been hoped that the underlying trends in crime would be monitored through a new, much larger, Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey ( SCVS). Unfortunately, this has not proved possible.