Murder, Culpable Homicide and Serious Assaults Fall in Edinburgh
Murders, culpable homicide and serious assaults have fallen in Edinburgh.
Police Scotland has today released its end of year Q4 Management of Information data for the end of March 2020, to the beginning of April 2021 which shows that murders haven fallen from six, to two, compared with the previous year.
There has also been a reduction in culpable homicide, which are down from five, to three. Likewise, there have been 115 fewer serious assaults.
The last 12 months have seen the country subject to various COVID lockdown restrictions and during this time, 4,500 fewer crimes were reported, with the overall detection rate for crime rising by five and a half percentage points.
While reports of sexual crime have risen overall by 78 offences, many of these are as a result of proactive investigations into historic sexual abuse incidents.
The division has also seen an improvement in solvency for rape, sexual assault (SOSA 2009) and public indecency.
Nationally, there were a total of 1,966 child sexual abuse crimes recorded during the year, an increase of 5.9% compared to last year (1,857).
Within the division, incidents of taking, possessing and distributing indecent images of children fell from 45 to 33 reports. Police Scotland continue to work closely with their partner agencies to protect vulnerable children despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Housebreaking and overall acquisitive crime has fallen significantly, with an almost 50% reduction in domestic housebreaking (527 offences). Acquisitive crime has decreased by 4,204 offences, while there has been 713 fewer motor vehicle crimes.
Across Scotland, reported fraud continues to increase as is the case within Edinburgh where over 400 more reports of fraud were made in the past 12 months. Prevention remains key and there is a national push to enhance crime reporting/recording in this area to enrich understanding and therefore detection and prevention opportunities.
Another priority within Edinburgh is road safety and casualty reduction. Overall road casualties have fallen by over 400. However, the number of fatal collisions has remained the same at three.
Chief Superintendent Sean Scott, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh, said: "The past year has been one of the most challenging in living memory and I am delighted by the manner in which my officers and staff have risen to the challenge.
"Their efforts have seen a rise in public confidence in policing, which is extremely encouraging.
"The fall in crime and improved detection rate is also encouraging, but we must be cognisant of the time period, which the data covers.
"As DCC Taylor has today outlined, the country is in the process of easing COVID restrictions and we will continue to report on changes to the policing requirements of communities and the challenge of maintaining higher detection rates in the context of reported crime, which is closer to pre-pandemic levels.
"What our communities can rest assured of, however, is that we are committed to keeping Edinburgh safe and will work alongside our relevant partners to reduce crime and improve detection rates within the Capital."
The 2020-21 Q4 Performance Report will be presented to the Scottish Police Authority’s Policing Performance Committee on Tuesday, 8 June.
