New stats reveal drop in crime in Inverclyde
Published 24 February 2020
Total crime is down in Inverclyde and there have been fewer sexual crimes in the nine months to the end of 2019, when compared with the previous year.
Crimes of fire-raising are also down and there has been no year-on-year change in the nine recorded crimes of serious assault.
One homicide has been recorded between April and December 2019 and there were nine attempted murders – the same level as the year before.
There have been five more recordings of housebreaking and while there have been two fewer recordings of the total supply of drugs, the total amount of drugs crimes has increased by 81.Chief Superintendent Alan Murray, of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Division, said: “We are dedicated to reducing crimes of all nature in Inverclyde and I am pleased where we have achieved that.
“Increases in recorded crime can also reflect increases in confidence in reporting and I am pleased that residents in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde appear to be growing in confidence to come forward and report crimes. Understanding their experiences helps develop better intelligence and this can inform targeted action plans to address these issues.“Police Scotland has the best of local and the strength of national – that’s local access to specialist services whose expertise can be drawn upon to support local initiatives. I will make best use of this equity of service to deploy targeted campaigns to bring about positive change in our communities.
“I will also continue to work with partners in public health to progress the best way forward in tackling drugs related crimes because policing alone cannot achieve that. Indeed, tackling the supply of drugs into our communities is a priority which I remain fully committed to addressing.”
Renfrewshire and Inverclyde’s figures come as Police Scotland published its 2019-20 Quarter 3 Performance Report today which revealed that there have been 1,313 crimes recorded against the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.
Introduced on 1 April 2019, the new Act criminalises the coercive and controlling behaviours used by domestic abusers, creating a single offence which covers the full range of abusive behaviours whether physical, psychological, financial or sexual. The offence carries a maximum tariff of 14 years.
The Quarter 3 report will be presented to the Scottish Police Authority’s Policing Performance Committee on 27 February.
