« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
2. Commentary
2.1 Annual comparisons
The 2003/04 data is only available for 7 of the 8 forces, and as a result comparisons with 2003/04 cannot be made at a Scotland level.
2.2 Incidents recorded by the police, by police force area
The total number of incidents recorded by the police in Scotland rose by 13 per cent from 2004/05 to 2005/06 (from 4,536 to 5,124), with a similar rate of increase in the number of crimes recorded (12 per cent, from 5,732 to 6,438) ( Table 1).
Five forces showed a consistent year on year increase in the number of racist incidents and crimes recorded from 2003/04 to 2005/06. Only Fife constabulary showed a consistent decrease in both crimes and incidents over the three years presented. Grampian showed an increase to 2004/05 followed by a decrease to 2005/06 in the number of incidents and crimes ( 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).
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.
2.3 Information about the detail of the incidents
Information about the incident was recorded, 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 all 3 years, the most common location for an incident was the street, followed by a shop and then a dwelling house. Between 2004/05 and 2005/06 the majority of the increase in the number of incidents were recorded as having taken place in the street - nearly two thirds of the total ( Table 3).
The most common days on which an incident occurred were Friday and Saturday in all three years (Figure 2) and ( Table 5), and generally most incidents were recorded during the summer months ( Table 4).
Approximately 85 per cent of incidents each year were reported to the police by the victim. Other reporters included witnesses of the incident, the police and agencies reporting on behalf of the victim ( Table 6).
Over the three year period, over 90 per cent of incidents reported resulted in one or more crimes being recorded.
Figure 2 Incidents by weekday and time
2.4 Information about crimes recorded resulting from the incidents
The most frequently recorded crime was racially aggravated conduct, which accounts for just over half of all racist related crimes recorded over the three year period. This is followed by breach of the peace, minor assault, vandalism, and then racially aggravated harassment. In each year, these five crimes accounted for 95 per cent of all crimes and offences recorded resulting from a racist incident ( Table 7). Definitions of racially aggravated conduct and racially aggravated harassment are included at 3.6.
It is expected that the numbers of crimes would have been affected by the implementation (from 1 April 2004) of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard ( SCRS), which means that no corroborative evidence is required initially to record a crime related incident as a crime if so perceived by the victim. This was expected to increase the numbers of minor crimes recorded by the police, such as minor crimes of vandalism, minor assaults and breach of the peace. This suggests that increases from 2003/04 to 2004/05 in the number of those crimes recorded as a part of a racist incident might have been affected by the new recording standard.
Previously, where there were crimes which the victim did not wish the police to actively investigate (for instance, if they were concerned that this could lead to more trouble), the crime itself would not have been recorded. Therefore the SCRS is thought to have caused an increase in the number of crimes recorded where there is no real possibility of clearing up the crime, which has an impact on the clear up rates.
2.5 Information about victims of racist incidents
In each year, more than 50 per cent of victims were of Asian origin (that is, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or other Asian), with the majority being Pakistani. The largest visible minority ethnic group in the Scottish population is Pakistani, based on the 2001 census figures ( Table 8).
The proportion of male victims has remained more or less unchanged at nearly 75 per cent over the three year period. Over the three year period there were an additional 808 victims whose age and/or gender were not recorded. These were not included when calculating the above proportions ( Table 10).
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 (over 50 per cent in each year) reporting an incident were doing so for the first time. Another 20 per cent had made 1 or 2 previous reports.
2.6 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). Approximately 50 per cent in each year are under the age of 20, and 25 per cent were under 16, making them eligible for referral to the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration ( SCRA) rather than the Procurator Fiscal ( Table 14). Over the three year period there were an additional 352 perpetrators whose age and/or gender were not recorded. These were not included when calculating the above proportions.
In all years, the most frequent recorded action taken by the police is that any crime has been referred to the Procurator Fiscal or the SCRA. This accounts for approximately 75 per cent of crimes in each year.
« Previous | Contents | Next »