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Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms
4. During 1998/99, the police recorded 990 crimes and offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used compared with the 1997/98 figure of 1,076, a decrease of 8%. The number of crimes and offences involving an airweapon decreased by 10% between 1997/98 and 1998/99 whilst the number of crimes and offences involving a firearm other than an airweapon decreased slightly from 359 in 1997/98 to 348 in 1998/99. The overall decrease in firearm offences can be attributed mainly to the decreasing incidence of reckless conduct with firearms, where offences fell by 28% from 206 to 149.
5. Between 1997/98 and 1998/99 the number of recorded robberies in which a firearm was alleged to have been used increased by 11%, from 122 offences to 136 offences, reversing a downward trend observed since 1992. The number of recorded vandalism offences decreased by 12% from 311 offences to 273 offences. Recorded assaults decreased by 7% in 1998/99, making for a total decrease of 38% since 1995/96. The number of recorded crimes and offences involving firearms in Scotland since 1989 is illustrated in the table.
Crimes and offences recorded by the police in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, 1989 - 1994, 1995/96 - 1998/99
| Crime/offence |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
F Y |
1995/96 |
1996/97 |
1997/98 |
1998/99 |
| Total |
1,479 |
1,495 |
1,921 |
1,959 |
1,773 |
1,788 |
1,763 |
1,529 |
1,076 |
990 |
|
| Homicide (1) |
7 |
3 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
9 |
25 |
8 |
5 |
7 |
|
| Attempted murder (1) |
16 |
31 |
40 |
45 |
44 |
42 |
53 |
35 |
16 |
18 |
|
| Assault |
289 |
295 |
389 |
350 |
297 |
363 |
350 |
279 |
232 |
216 |
|
| Robbery |
264 |
246 |
440 |
508 |
396 |
370 |
233 |
221 |
122 |
136 |
|
| Vandalism |
481 |
560 |
575 |
604 |
552 |
499 |
629 |
470 |
310 |
237 |
|
| Reckless conduct with firearms |
231 |
218 |
246 |
243 |
194 |
204 |
239 |
256 |
206 |
149 |
|
| Firearms Act 1968 offences |
148 |
103 |
148 |
153 |
187 |
231 |
155 |
204 |
147 |
122 |
|
| Other crimes & offences |
43 |
39 |
76 |
50 |
95 |
70 |
79 |
56 |
36 |
69 |
|
| Total excluding airweapons5 |
473 |
435 |
729 |
800 |
737 |
783 |
608 |
534 |
359 |
348 |
|
| (1) The 1995/96 figures for homicide and attempted murders reflect the Dunblane incident of 13 March 1996. | |||||||||||
Indecency
6. The number of crimes of indecency recorded by the police decreased by 337 between 1997/98 and 1998/99 to total 7,077, a decrease of 5 per cent. Recorded cases of sexual assault increased by 5 per cent and, within this sub-category, the number of cases of rape (including assault with intent to rape) increased by 4 per cent to 797 in 1998/99 and the number of cases of indecent assault increased by 6 per cent to 1,348 in 1998/99. The number of crimes of lewd and indecent behaviour was 2,871 in 1998/99 compared with 3,016 in 1997/98, a decrease of 5 per cent. Police forces have advised that there has been an increase in the propensity of victims to report historical crimes of sexual abuse to the police, thus contributing to the increases evident in the past few years. The "other" group within crimes of indecency decreased by 13 per cent - attributable, in the main, to a 11 per cent decrease in recorded cases of prostitution related offences from 1,748 in 1997/98 to 1,564 in 1998/99, due entirely to a decrease in the numbers recorded in the city of Glasgow. The table below provides more detailed information on the number of crimes of indecency over the last ten years.
Crimes of indecency recorded by the police, 1988 - 1994 and 1995/6 to 1998/99 Scotland
| Crime Category |
1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995/6 |
F Y |
1996/7 |
1997/8 |
1998/99 |
% change |
| Sexual Assault: | ||||||||||||
| Rape |
328 |
326 |
320 |
350 |
339 |
395 |
414 |
469 |
596 |
607 |
2 |
|
| Assault with intent to rape |
198 |
168 |
200 |
189 |
204 |
174 |
167 |
164 |
168 |
190 |
13 |
|
| Indecent assault |
982 |
964 |
909 |
1,065 |
1,083 |
1,034 |
1,112 |
1,122 |
1,271 |
1,348 |
6 |
|
| Lewd and indecent behaviour: | ||||||||||||
| Lewd and libidinous practices |
926 |
1,045 |
1,092 |
1,121 |
1,390 |
1,395 |
1,256 |
1,426 |
1,916 |
1,850 |
-3 |
|
| Indecent exposure |
1,658 |
1,579 |
1,526 |
1,475 |
1,331 |
1,260 |
1,304 |
1,067 |
1,100 |
1,021 |
-7 |
|
| Other: | ||||||||||||
| Incest |
91 |
82 |
83 |
83 |
95 |
88 |
62 |
89 |
77 |
70 |
-9 |
|
| Homosexual acts |
171 |
222 |
162 |
164 |
172 |
130 |
111 |
147 |
193 |
134 |
-31 |
|
| Sexual intercourse with girl under 16 |
407 |
402 |
280 |
321 |
357 |
346 |
288 |
262 |
283 |
240 |
-15 |
|
| Offences relating to prostitution |
653 |
973 |
1,206 |
1,236 |
1,357 |
1,045 |
1,128 |
983 |
1,118 |
1,748 |
56 |
|
| Other crimes of indecency |
8 |
40 |
36 |
25 |
31 |
48 |
43 |
77 |
62 |
53 |
-15 |
|
| Total |
5,742 |
6,034 |
5,844 |
6,150 |
6,047 |
5,998 |
5,740 |
5,941 |
7,414 |
7,077 |
-5 |
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