Fewer thefts in Ayrshire and a changing picture of local policing needs

Total crimes of housebreaking are down by almost 90 and there were 28 fewer crimes involving offensive or bladed weapons.

Drugs-related crimes dropped by 137 and while there were 18 more incidents of serious assault, these are down against the five year average according to figures released by Police Scotland.

The latest performance report reveals Ayrshire had 13 fewer incidents or robbery and assault with intent to rob and a moving picture of policing needs as the area emerges from coronavirus restrictions.

Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain said: “The return of resources to the division from the Flexible Response Unit will allow us to better support local policing and address the changing needs of Ayrshire’s communities.

“These additional resources will give us even greater capacity to focus on the priorities that will make a difference to the wellbeing of those who reside, visit and work in the area.

“One of those priorities is common assaults which, across this latest reporting period, we recorded 261 more incidents. That figure includes 54 more assaults on emergency workers which is disappointing considering we and our emergency services’ partners put ourselves in harms’ way to keep people safe.

“While crimes containing an online element have increased across the country, we hope our cyber strategy will address the virtual threat posed to Ayrshire’s communities.”

Police Scotland is supporting the policing response for communities following a highly demanding summer period.

More than 200 officers have been re-deployed to local policing and new arrangements were introduced to increase the uptake of overtime within Police Scotland’s Contact, Command and Control Division.

The measures follow a busy first half of 2021-22, during which reported crime returned to pre-lockdown levels in a number of categories, while additional and complex demand with an online element continued to grow.

Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: “As has been publicly underlined by the Chief Constable, the summer period presented an exceptional level of demand on officers and staff, including displaced demand from key partners who continue to operate under critical pressure.

“The demand and challenges experienced in our Contact, Command and Control Division has led to increased 101 average answer times as we continue to prioritise emergency 999 calls.

“We have introduced changes to overtime payments for service centre staff as part of a range of measures to manage the ongoing high demand on our non-emergency 101 service. We anticipate these changes will increase uptake of overtime and further support our ability to manage peaks in demand.”

The Performance Report is published today and will be presented to the Scottish Police Authority Policing Performance Committee on Thursday, 9 December. Associated Management Information is available on Police Scotland’s website.