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| Recorded Crime in Scotland,1998: Cr/1999/3 |
| 3. Summary of crimes and offences recorded by the police (Tables 1 and 2 of Appendix) |
| 3.1 The number of crimes recorded by the Scottish police increased for the first time in the past seven years. (Table 1). In 1998, 432,000 crimes were recorded, an increase of 11,000 (3 per cent more than in 1997). Nearly two thirds of crimes recorded by the police are crimes of dishonesty (e.g. housebreaking and theft) and the increase in overall crime reflects an increase in the number of such crimes. The number of crimes cleared up increased by a greater extent, 8 per cent, from 164,000 in 1997 to 178,000 in 1998. This resulted in an increase in the clear-up rate from 39 per cent in 1997 to 41 per cent in 1998. |
| 3.2 The number of offences recorded by the police in 1998 increased by 6 per cent to 516,000 (20 per cent higher than the number of crimes recorded in 1998). This increase in the number of offences reflects, in part, the impact of the campaigns and initiatives undertaken by the police during 1998. The high clear-up rate for offences reflects the recording characteristics of such contraventions of the law. Most offences are cleared up immediately because the offender is caught in the act, e.g. motoring offences and thus recorded and cleared up figures for offences are equal in most instances and equivalent to a clear-up rate of 100 per cent. |
| Crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the police, Scotland, 1994 - 1998 | Table A |
Number & Percentage |
|
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
|
| Police strength at 31 December | 14,313 |
14,479 |
14,650 |
15,050 |
14,857 |
| Number of crimes recorded | 500,110 |
475,697 |
451,956 |
420,642 |
431,551 |
| Crimes recorded per 1,000 population1 | 98 |
93 |
88 |
82 |
84 |
| Crimes recorded per police officer | 35 |
33 |
31 |
28 |
29 |
| Number of crimes cleared up | 168,792 |
168,090 |
165,577 |
164,242 |
178,107 |
| Crimes cleared up as % of those recorded | 34 |
35 |
37 |
39 |
41 |
| Crimes cleared up per police officer | 12 |
12 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
| Number of offences recorded | 463,917 |
451,869 |
451,988 |
486,883 |
515,796 |
| Offences recorded per 1,000 population1 | 91 |
88 |
88 |
95 |
101 |
| Offences recorded per police officer | 32 |
31 |
31 |
32 |
35 |
| Number of offences cleared up | 442,201 |
431,848 |
432,593 |
467,411 |
497,042 |
| Offences cleared up per police officer | 31 |
30 |
30 |
31 |
33 |
| 1. The mid-year population estimate for 1997 was used since, at the time of publication, the 1998 estimate was not available. |
| Chart 2 Percentage change in recorded crimes and offences by crime group, 1997 — 98 |
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