Statistical Bulletin

Recorded Crime in Scotland, 1997

1. Introduction

1.1 This bulletin presents statistics on crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the eight Scottish police forces in 1997. It forms part of The Scottish Office series of statistical bulletins on the criminal justice system. Statistics of crimes and offences recorded by the police provide a measure of the volume of crime with which the police are faced. For a variety of reasons many crimes and offences are either not reported to the police or are not subsequently recorded by them and so changes in the number of crimes and offences recorded do not necessarily provide an accurate reflection of changes in the volume of crime committed (see Section 9 for more details). Definitions of the terms and classifications used in this bulletin are given in the Annex. Numbers in the text have been rounded as appropriate.

Chart 1 - Crimes and offences recorded by the police, 1988-1997

2. Key points

The Scottish police recorded 421,000 crimes and 487,000 offences during 1997, a fall of 7 per cent and an increase of 8 per cent respectively when compared with the 1996 figures.

This most recent fall in recorded crime continues the downward trend evident since 1992. In 1992 recorded crime fell by 1 per cent. This was followed by falls of 8 per cent in 1993, 3 per cent in 1994 and 5 per cent in each of the years 1995 and 1996 respectively.

The level of total recorded crime in 1997 was 27 per cent lower than the 1991 figure and the lowest such level since 1981.

The number of non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police decreased by 11 per cent in 1997 in contrast to the increase of 2 per cent experienced between 1995 and 1996. Within this group the largest percentage decrease was evident in the number of recorded cases of robbery which fell by 15 per cent to 4,500. The number of serious assaults and crimes of "handling an offensive weapon" decreased by 13 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. Crimes of "handling an offensive weapon" had, in the previous year, increased by 6 per cent.

The number of crimes in the indecency group increased by 26 per cent in 1997 to number 7,100, the highest number recorded since 1971. Within this group recorded cases of sexual assault - which includes rape and indecent assault - increased by 14 per cent to total 2,000 and the number of crimes of lewd and indecent behaviour increased by 22 per cent to total 3,000 in 1997. The number of crimes recorded in the "other" sub-group increased by 45 per cent (672 cases) to 2,200 and was mainly as a result of an increase in prostitution related offences.

The overall fall in recorded crime in 1997 was, as in the previous two years, due almost entirely to a reduction in the number of crimes of dishonesty (down 10 per cent) and, in particular, the number of crimes of theft by opening a lockfast place which decreased by 15 per cent (9,300) to total 51,100 in 1997. The housebreaking figure (55,500) in 1997 was less than half the number recorded in 1991 when the figure stood at 116,100. Crimes involving theft of a motor vehicle decreased by 16 per cent in 1997 to number 28,600.

Recorded cases of vandalism (including malicious mischief) decreased by 9 per cent (7,500) to total 78,200 in 1997 following a 3 per cent increase between 1995 and 1996. The number of crimes of fire-raising fell by 16 per cent to total 2,800 in 1997.

Within the "other crimes" group, recorded drugs related crimes increased by 22 per cent from 24,000 cases in 1996 to 29,400 cases in 1997. This followed a decrease of 3 per cent in 1996.

The crime clear-up rate rose from 37 per cent in 1996 to 39 per cent in 1997. The number of crimes cleared up by the police decreased slightly to 164,000 in 1997. For each police officer in the eight Scottish forces, 28 crimes were recorded and 11 were cleared up in 1997.

3. Summary of crimes and offences recorded by the police (Tables 1 and 2 of Appendix)

3.1 The number of crimes recorded by the Scottish police fell for the sixth successive year (Table 1). In 1997, 421,000 crimes were recorded, a decrease of 31,000 (7 per cent less than in 1996). The majority of crimes recorded by the police (around 83 per cent per cent of the total) are related to property (e.g. housebreaking, theft and vandalism) and the fall in overall crime reflects a fall in the number of such crimes. The number of crimes cleared up fell from 166,000 in 1996 to 164,000 in 1997, a decrease of 1 per cent. Although there was a decrease in the number of crimes cleared up in 1997, the clear-up rate increased from 37 per cent in 1996 to 39 per cent in 1997.

3.2 The number of offences recorded by the police in 1997 increased by 8 per cent to 487,000. This increase in the number of offences reflects, in part, the impact of the campaigns and initiatives undertaken by the police during 1997. The high clear-up rate for offences reflects the recording characteristics of such contraventions of the law. Most offences are cleared up immediately because the offender is caught in the act, e.g. motoring offences and thus recorded and cleared up figures for offences are equal in most instances and equivalent to a clear-up rate of 100 per cent. Table A below provides more detail.

Chart 2 - Percentage change in recorded crimes and offences by crime group, 1996-97