2. Commentary
2.1 Incidents recorded by the police, by police force area
The total number of incidents recorded by the police in Scotland fell by 1 per cent from 2006/07 to 2007/08 (from 5,321 to 5,243), compared with a 4 per cent increase from 2005/06 to 2006/07 (from 5,111 to 5,321). However, the number of crimes recorded increased in 2007/08 (from 6,653 crimes in 2006/07 to 6,672 crimes in 2007/08), which equates to an increase of less than half of one per cent. The number of crimes recorded increased by 3 per cent from 2005/06 to 2006/07 (from 6,445 to 6,653) (Table 1).
Three forces showed year on year increases in the number of racist incidents recorded from 2006/07 to 2007/08 (Northern, Strathclyde and Tayside). This followed a fall in the number of incidents for each of the three forces in 2006/07. Of the other five forces, Fife experienced a decrease in racist incidents in both 2006/07 and 2007/08, with the other four (Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Grampian and Lothian and Borders) experiencing increases in 2006/07 then decreases in 2007/08 (Table 1). The number of incidents, as a rate per 10,000 local population, is generally much higher in urban areas (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) than the more rural areas (Table 2).
Over the period 2004/05 to 2007/08, racist incidents in Scotland have increased by 16 per cent. There could be a number of reasons for this. Forces' work with a range of victim support agencies to encourage reporting may be one reason for these increases. Other factors which could have impacted on the numbers are an increasing public intolerance of such behaviour, and increased public confidence that reporting such incidents is worthwhile. There have also been improvements in data collection, and the introduction of centralised call centres has encouraged the reporting of all incidents. It should be noted however that the number of racist incidents recorded fell slightly in the latest period.
2.2 Information about the detail of the incidents
Various information was recorded in relation to the incident, such as the location where the incident took place, the date and time of the incident, and whether a crime was recorded as part of the incident.
In the four years covered by this bulletin, around 95 per cent of incidents reported resulted in one or more crimes being recorded (Table 1).
As Table 3 shows, in all four years covered by this publication, the most common location for an incident was the street (around a third of all incidents), followed by a shop (around a fifth of all incidents) and then a dwelling house (just under a fifth of all incidents). These three locations accounted for 70 per cent of all racist incidents in 2007/08, which is the same as in 2006/07. It should be noted that, due to recording issues, Lothian and Borders Police were unable to provide information on the location of incidents in 2006/07. As a result, caution should be exhibited when making annual comparisons on the location of incidents.
Generally most incidents were recorded during the summer months (Chart 2 and Table 4). The most common days on which an incident occurred were Friday and Saturday in all four years covered by the publication (Chart 3 and Table 5).
Approximately 76 per cent of incidents in 2007/08 were reported to the police by the victim, which is a decrease from 82 per cent in 2006/07 and around 85 per cent in previous years. Other reporters included witnesses of the incident, the police and agencies reporting on behalf of the victim (Table 6).
Chart 2 Incidents by financial year and quarter, 2004/05 to 2007/08
Chart 3 Incidents by weekday and time, 2004/05 to 2007/08
2.3 Information about crimes recorded resulting from the incidents
The most frequently recorded crime was racially aggravated conduct, accounting for over half of all racist related crimes recorded over the four year period covered by this publication. This is followed by breach of the peace, minor assault, fire-raising/vandalism, and then racially aggravated harassment. In each year, these five crimes accounted for around 95 per cent of all crimes and offences recorded resulting from a racist incident (Table7a). Definitions of racially aggravated conduct and racially aggravated harassment are included at 3.6.
Just over 58 per cent of all racist crimes recorded in 2007/08 were cleared-up, which was similar to 2006/07 (Table 7b). The clear-up rate differs depending on the crime, with over 84 per cent of crimes included in the 'other crimes' group being cleared-up (this group includes handling offensive weapons, drug crimes and resisting arrest). This compared with a clear-up rate of just under 30 per cent for those offences contained within the 'other offences' group (this group includes motor vehicle offences).
2.4 Information about victims of racist incidents
In each year, around 50 per cent of victims were of Asian origin (that is, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or other Asian), with the majority being Pakistani (Table 8). The largest visible minority ethnic group in the Scottish population is Pakistani, based on the 2001 census figures (Section 3, part 3.9).
The proportion of male victims has remained more or less unchanged at around 75 per cent over the four year period covered by the publication. Over this period there were an additional 1,326 victims whose age and/or gender were not recorded. These were not included when calculating the above proportions (Table10).
When recording whether the victim had reported previous incidents within the previous 2 years to the police, not all forces were able to supply the number of incidents previously reported. These have been described as 'unknown' in the data (Table 11). In each year, the majority of people (around 75 per cent in each year) reporting an incident were doing so for the first time. Just under 15 per cent of people had made 1 or 2 previous reports. These percentages are based on those incidents for which previous incident information is known.
2.5 Information about perpetrators of racist incidents
This information by its nature is only fully available where the incident has been fully resolved, and any crime involved has been detected. For those incidents where this information was available, in each year, approximately 95 per cent of perpetrators were of white origin (Table 12).
Around 46 per cent of perpetrators in 2007/08 were aged 20 or under, which is down from around 50 per cent in previous years (Table 14). Around 23 per cent were under 16 in 2007/08, making them eligible for referral to the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration ( SCRA) rather than the Procurator Fiscal (Table 14). Over the four year period there were an additional 1,180 perpetrators whose age and/or gender were not recorded. These were not included when calculating the above proportions.
In all years, the most frequently recorded action taken by the police is referral to the Procurator Fiscal or the SCRA. This accounts for around 79 per cent of perpetrators in 2004/05 and 2005/06 and for around 69 per cent of perpetrators in 2006/07 and 2007/08 (Table 15).