« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
2. Main Points
There have been a number of changes in recording practices in recent years, along with a clarification of the scope of the firearms return. (See Annex 5.13-5.17) The main changes to the return are:
- From 2005-06, forces agreed to identify weapons whenever possible, based on evidence such as type of damage caused even if the weapon was not recovered. As expected this has led to an increase in the identified firearms categories and a decrease in the number of unidentified firearms. ( Table 3)
- From 2006-07, forces agreed to include incidents involving air weapons where no injury or damage was caused. These incidents were excluded in previous years. This change would be expected to increase both the total number of offences of reckless conduct with a firearm and the total number of offences involving air weapons. ( Table 1 and Table 3)
These changes should be taken into account when considering the following main points:
- In 2006-07 the Scottish police recorded 1,245 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, an increase of 17 per cent from the total of 1,068 recorded in 2005-06, and the highest number in the 10 year period covered by this bulletin. ( Table 1)
- There was a large increase in the number of offences of reckless conduct with a firearm, from 123 in 2005-06 to 291 in 2006-07. This is a direct result of the change to recording practices noted above. The number of 'other crimes and offences' increased from 117 in 2005-06 to 209 in 2006-07. It is thought that at least part of this increase is due to a clarification in the scope of the firearms offences return (See Annex 5.15-5.17). ( Table 1)
- The number of minor assaults increased by 39 per cent, from 143 in 2005-06 to 199 in 2006-07. The number of vandalism offences fell 49 per cent, from 396 in 2005-06 to 202 in 2006-07. ( Table 1)
- The use of firearms in criminal activity continued to constitute only a small proportion of all offences recorded by the police in 2006-07; 7 per cent of recorded homicides (8 offences), 5 per cent of recorded attempted murders (43 offences), and 2 per cent of recorded robberies (82 offences). In each of the remaining three categories, less than 0.5 per cent of offences involved the alleged use of a firearm. ( Table 2)
- Air weapons accounted for 54 per cent (675) of all offences involving firearms in 2006-07, compared to 58 per cent (618) in 2005-06. ( Table 3)
- The number of offences in which a firearm was fired and killed or caused injury to a person increased by a quarter, from 197 in 2005-06 to 247 in 2006-07. ( Table 5)
- Of the 247 main victims injured in recorded offences in which a firearm was fired, 189 (77 per cent) were male and 57 (23 per cent) were female. There was one offence in which a police officer was shot causing injury. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of main victims were aged between 11-15 years of age and 30 victims (12 per cent) were aged 10 years or under. ( Table 10)
- In 2006-07, 57 per cent of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used were cleared up, compared with the 43 per cent cleared up in 2005-06. ( Table 11)
- The Strathclyde police force area, which contained 43 per cent of the estimated population in Scotland in 2006, accounted for 56 per cent (691) of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used in 2006-07. ( Table 13)
« Previous | Contents | Next »