Scottish Government

2. Main points

• The total number of crimes recorded by the police decreased by 8 per cent between 2006/07 and 2007/08. In 2007/08, the Scottish police recorded 385,509 crimes.
• The number of non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police decreased by 9 per cent between 2006/07 and 2007/08, to a total of 12,874.
• The number of crimes of indecency decreased by 3 per cent, from 6,726 in 2006/07 to 6,552 in 2007/08.
• Within the indecency group, recorded cases of rape & attempted rape decreased by 6 per cent to 1,053.
• The number of crimes of dishonesty decreased for the ninth consecutive year to stand at 166,718 cases in 2007/08.
• Recorded cases of vandalism (including fire-raising and malicious mischief) decreased by 9 per cent to total 118,025 in 2007/08.
• The clear-up rate for all recorded crimes in 2007/08 is 48 per cent. The corresponding figure for 2006/07 was 47 per cent.
• The clear-up rate in 2007/08 for non-sexual crimes of violence is higher than in 2006/07, increasing from 60 per cent to 62 per cent. The rate for crimes of indecency has decreased by 3 percentage points to 71 per cent, with the rate for other crimes also decreasing, from 99 per cent to 98 per cent. At the level at which we publish, all other crime groups are unchanged from the previous year.
• In 2007/08 the police recorded 571,881 offences, a decrease of 6 per cent from the number in 2006/07. This was largely due to a substantial decrease in the number of speeding offences.
• All 8 police forces showed a decrease in the number of crimes recorded in 2007/08 compared to 2006/07, ranging from a 6 per cent fall in Strathclyde to a 16 per cent fall in Fife.
• Although there was only a relatively small decrease (3 per cent) in the total number of crimes of indecency recorded in Scotland in 2007/08, there were significant differences within police forces. Fife (23 per cent) and Central (21 per cent) both recorded significant increases to this group, whilst Northern (16 per cent), Tayside (16 per cent) and Lothian & Borders (15 per cent) all recorded significant decreases.