| 7. Number of
crimes and offences recorded by police force area (Tables
4a, 4b and 5 of Appendix) |
| |
| 7.1
Strathclyde police recorded 971 crimes per 10,000
population in 1998 - the highest rate of all forces (Tables
4B and 5). Fifty one per cent of all crimes recorded
in Scotland were in the Strathclyde police force area,
which contains 44 per cent of the Scottish resident
population. Northern Constabulary recorded the lowest
number of crimes per 10,000 population (438). Five of the
eight police forces showed an increase in the total
number of crimes recorded in 1998 when compared with
1997: Central (up 9 per cent), Strathclyde (up 5 per
cent), Dumfries and Galloway (up 4 per cent), Fife and
Grampian (up 3 per cent). Tayside, Lothian and Borders
and Northern recorded decreases of 5, 1 per cent and less
than 0.5 per cent respectively. |
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| Chart 5
Total number of crimes recorded per 10,000 population in
1998 by police force area |
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|
|
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| The mid -
year population estimate for 1997 was used since, at the
time of publication, the 1998 estimate was not available. |
| |
| 7.2 Crime
rates for force areas include offending by non-residents
as well as the resident population. Thus, the high rate
of motor vehicle offences recorded in Dumfries &
Galloway (almost double the Scottish rate) may reflect
the volume of traffic on trunk roads through the area. In
addition, the crime rates will reflect local initiatives
within forces, which affect the reporting, and detection
of crime from one period to the next. |
| |
| 7.3 The
Scottish forces had, in 1998, widely differing clear-up
rates for crimes, partly reflecting the different
characteristics of the areas and the crimes committed.
The rates varied from 35 per cent in Lothian &
Borders, 38 per cent in Grampian, 39 per cent in Tayside
and 40 per cent in Strathclyde to 50 per cent in Fife, 57
per cent in Central, 59 per cent in Dumfries &
Galloway and 64 per cent in Northern Constabulary. |
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