Statistical Bulletin


Recorded Crime in Scotland, 1997

11. Notes on statistics used in this bulletin
Returns
11.1 The statistical return from which most of the figures in this bulletin are taken is a simple count of the numbers of crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the police. Only returns from the eight Scottish home forces are included in this bulletin. One return is made for each council in Scotland and these are aggregated to give a national total. Amendments (such as the deletion of incidents found on investigation not to be criminal) which arise after the end of the year are not incorporated.
11.2 In 1993 information was collected for the first time from other police forces, such as the British Transport Police etc. This practice has been continued, but these figures have not been included in the main body of the bulletin. Thus, in addition to those crimes and offences referred to throughout the bulletin there were, in total, 5,300 crimes and 7,800 offences recorded by the British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence and UK Atomic Energy Authority in 1997. The crime clear-up rate was 33 per cent and the miscellaneous offences rate was 36 per cent.
11.3 The figures included in the motor vehicle offences group do not include stationary motor vehicle offences dealt with by the issue of a fixed penalty ticket (some 439,000 offences, mostly parking, in 1997). However, offences dealt with under the vehicle defect rectification scheme and offences for which the procurator fiscal offers a fixed penalty are included in the figures. In addition to this, moving traffic offences which are the subject of a police conditional offer of a fixed penalty are also included, e.g. speeding, traffic direction offences.
Recording issues
11.4 In one criminal incident, several crimes or offences may occur - e.g. a house may be broken into and vandalised and the occupants assaulted. In multiple offence incidents, all the offences are counted rather than one for the incident as a whole; that is, the counting system is offence based rather than incident based. An offence may have more than one victim - for example in robberies - and be committed by more than one offender - e.g. some assaults and housebreakings. (Note that for murder, attempted murder and culpable homicide, the number of crimes recorded is equal to the number of the victims). Thus the statistics in this bulletin are not directly comparable with statistics on action taken against offenders, as one offence may lead to several persons being charged. Equally, an offender may be charged with several offences. The statistics for recorded number of crimes given in this bulletin are also not directly comparable with statistics collected in England and Wales for the recorded number of notifiable offences. This is due to differences in the counting rules (for notifiable offences the counting system is incident based rather than offence based) and the coverage of notifiable offences (for example, cases of possession of drugs are excluded from the notifiable offences).
11.5 In Scotland, assault is a common law offence. In order to distinguish between serious and minor assaults (termed petty assault in the classification) police forces use a common definition of what is a serious assault. Although the definition did not change between 1980 and 1989 it became clear that over the years forces had adopted different interpretations. The definition of serious assault was amended at the start of 1990 to improve consistency between forces in coding assaults into serious and petty assault. The result of the revision to the definition has been much closer agreement on the interpretation of the definition of serious assault across forces, but it has resulted in a reduction in the number of assaults recorded as serious. It is estimated that the number of serious assaults that would have been recorded in 1989, using the revised definition, is some 1,150 fewer than that actually recorded, with a corresponding rise in petty assaults. In the tables in this bulletins, the number of recorded serious assaults etc. (which include cases of murder, culpable homicide and attempted murder) and petty assaults have not been adjusted. The table below gives the number of serious assaults etc. and petty assaults recorded in 1989 and 1990 together with adjusted figures for 1989.
	1989		1990
	Recorded - old definition of serious assault	Adjusted - new definition of serious assault	Recorded - new definition of serious assault
Serious assault etc.	7,323	6,176	6,287
Petty assault	37,650	38,797	39,630
Total assault	44,973	44,973	45,917

11.6 Attempts to commit an offence are included in the statistics, in general in the same group as the substantive offence.
Reporting practice
11.7 These statistics do not of course reveal the incidence of all crime committed. Not all incidents are reported to the police. The British Crime Survey (BCS) Scotland, a survey of crime victims, suggested that in Scotland victims reported 44 per cent of incidents to the police in 1987, up from 38 per cent in 1981. This increased to 55 per cent in 1992 before falling back to 50 per cent in 1995. The two reasons most commonly given by victims for not reporting to the police were that the incident was considered by them to be too trivial or that the police could not have taken any action in any case.
11.8 Many offences, for example, speeding or possession of drugs, have no victim other than perhaps the perpetrator and are discovered and recorded as a result of police activity rather than by being reported to the police by the public. Hence the numbers of such offences recorded are mainly determined by the strength and deployment of the police forces.
11.9 Variations in police recording practice can also occur between areas over time. It is known, for example, that the introduction of computerised crime logging systems has resulted in improved recording of minor incidents in Scotland since 1975, and as such systems come to be more widely used and improved such effects will continue to occur.
Revision to recorded crime series : offending while on bail
11.10 Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995, which came into effect on 31 March 1996, amended the Bail etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 provisions relating to breach of bail conditions. Consolidation under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 subsequently took place with the provisions relating to breach of bail conditions contained in section 27 of this Act.
11.11 The revisions made by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995 included one change which impacted on the recording of crimes by the police. Under the 1980 Act, breaching the bail condition that no further offences would be committed while on bail was treated as an offence in its own right. The 1995 Act changed this; breaching this condition ceased to be a separate offence. Under the new provisions (which have applied since April 1996), if an accused commits a further offence while on bail then it is taken into account in sentencing for that offence. The court is now required, in determining sentence, to have regard to the fact that the offence was committed while on bail and may impose a more severe sentence than it would otherwise have done for the conviction. The new provisions under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995 apply to any bail order made on or after 31 March 1996.
11.12 The recorded crime series was revised to remove all crimes of "offending while on bail" from the historical data (1983-1995) to enable comparisons over time to be made. Full details of the changes can be found in the statistical bulletin "Recording of Offending while on Bail, Scotland", CrJ/1997/1.
Crimes and offences cleared up
11.13 The definition of ‘cleared up’ is noted below. This definition came into force with effect from 1 April 1996.
A crime or offence is regarded as cleared up where these exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law, to justify consideration of criminal proceedings notwithstanding that a report is not submitted to the procurator fiscal because either
(i) by standing agreement with the procurator fiscal, the police warn the accused due to the minor nature of the offence, or
(ii) reporting is inappropriate due to the non-age of the accused, death of the accused or other similar circumstances.
For some types of crime or offence the case is cleared up immediately because the offender is caught in the act, e.g. motoring offences. In Scots Law, the confession of an accused person to a crime would not in general be sufficient to allow a prosecution to be taken as corroborative evidence is required. Thus, a case cannot be regarded as "cleared up" on the basis of a confession alone. In some cases there is sufficient evidence but a prosecution cannot be brought, for example, because the accused has left the country. In such cases, the crime is regarded as cleared up.
11.14 Certain motor vehicle offences are not always recorded in cases where police forces are unable to clear-up the offence (e.g. speeding offences where the driver is untraceable). Clear-up rates for motor vehicle offences in these circumstances are artificial. Thus, clear-up rates for the motor vehicle group and clear-up rates for Total Offences and Total Crimes and Offences (which include motor vehicle offences) are not included in the bulletin. However, the number of motor vehicle offences cleared up is still included.
11.15 Clear-up rates in excess of 100 per cent can arise where offences recorded in one year are cleared up during the following year.
Classification
11.16 Contraventions of Scottish criminal law are divided for statistical purposes into crimes and offences. The term "crime" is generally used for the more serious criminal acts; the less serious are termed "offences", although the term "offence" may also be used in relation to serious breaches of criminal law. The distinction is made only for working purposes and the "seriousness" of the offence is generally related to the maximum sentence which can be imposed.
11.17 The detailed classification of crimes and offences used by The Scottish Office to collect criminal statistics contains about 350 codes. These are grouped in the bulletin as shown overleaf.
11.18 The following symbols are used throughout the tables in this bulletin - nil * less than 0.5
11.19 Further analyses of recorded crime statistics can be supplied on request. In certain cases a fee is charged. For details of what can be provided please telephone Mrs Jean Wilson on 0131 - 244 2225.

CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES AND OFFENCES
Group
CRIMES
NON-SEXUAL CRIMES OF VIOLENCE	(Also referred to as Violence)
Serious assault etc. -	Includes murder and culpable homicide (including the statutory crime of causing death by dangerous driving). Furthermore, an assault is classified as serious if the victim sustained an injury resulting in detention in hospital as an in-patient or any of the following injuries whether or not he was detained in hospital : fractures, concussion, internal injuries, crushing, severe cuts or lacerations or severe general shock requiring medical treatment. Prior to 1990 the phrase "victim sustained" was followed by the phrase "(or owing to personal circumstances or the use of a weapon was likely to sustain)".
Handling offensive weapons -	Comprises carrying offensive weapons, restriction of offensive weapons legislation.
Robbery -	Includes offences involving assault with intent to rob.
Other -	Includes threats and cruel and unnatural treatment of children.
CRIMES OF INDECENCY	(Also referred to as Indecency).
Sexual assault -	Comprises rape, assault with intent to rape and indecent assault.
Lewd and indecent behaviour -(Previously titled "Lewd and libidinous practices)"	Comprises lewd and libidinous practices against children and indecent exposure.
Other -	Includes offences connected with prostitution.
CRIMES INVOLVING DISHONESTY	(Also referred to as Dishonesty)
Housebreaking -	Includes commercial as well as domestic premises.
Theft by opening lockfast places -	Most commonly from motor vehicles.
Theft of motor vehicle -	-
Shoplifting -	-
Other theft -	Includes theft of pedal cycles.
Fraud -	Includes statutory fraud.
Other -	Includes forgery, reset and embezzlement.
FIRE-RAISING, VANDALISM ETC
Fire-raising -	-
Vandalism, etc. -	Includes malicious mischief, vandalism and reckless conduct with firearms.
OTHER CRIMES
Crimes against public justice -	Includes perjury, resisting arrest, bail offences (other than absconding or re-offending) and wasting police time.
Drugs -	Includes importation, possession and supply of controlled drugs.
Other -	Includes conspiracy and explosive offences.
OFFENCES
MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES
Petty Assault -	-
Breach of the peace -	-
Drunkenness -	-
Other -	Includes offences against local legislation, offences involving animals/plants, offences against liquor licensing laws and offences against environmental legislation.
MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENCES
Dangerous and careless driving -	Prior to 1992 this was known as "reckless and careless driving".
Drunk driving -	Comprises driving or in charge of motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs, blood alcohol content above limit and failing to provide breath, blood or urine specimens.
Speeding -	-
Unlawful use of vehicle -	Comprises driving while disqualified, without a licence, insurance, test certificate, vehicle tax and registration and identification offences.
Vehicle defect offences -	Comprises construction and use and lighting offences.
Other -	Includes parking, record of work offences, neglect of traffic directions and failing to stop after accident.


The Scottish Office Criminal Justice Statistical Bulletins published in 1997 and 1998 (to date)
CrJ/1997/1	Recording of Offending while on Bail, Scotland
CrJ/1997/2	Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 1995
CrJ/1997/3	Recorded Crime in Scotland, 1996
CrJ/1997/4	Liquor Licensing Statistics, 1996
CrJ/1997/5	Firearms Certificates Statistics, Scotland, 1996
CrJ/1997/6	Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 1996
CrJ/1997/7	Homicide in Scotland, 1987-1996
CrJ/1997/8	Prison Statistics Scotland, 1996
CrJ/1998/1	Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 1996

N.B. The most recent bulletin for each Criminal Justice topic is highlighted in bold.

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ISSN 0264 1178
ISBN 0 7480 7062 1