JUSTICE secretary Kenny MacAskill today welcomed a fall in recorded crime in Scotland to its lowest level in a quarter of a century.
Official figures today showed there were almost 34,000 fewer crimes recorded last year – down 8% on the previous year's figures.
Violent crime, including murder and attempted murder, is down along with drugs offences.
All eight police forces sh
owed a decrease in the number of crimes recorded in 2007/08 compared to 2006/07.
"I welcome this evidence that there were tens of thousands fewer crimes and so tens of thousands fewer victims during our first year in government," Mr MacAskill said today.
"However, we're committed to taking the action needed to drive down crime for the long term, not just for one year.
"We now have more police officers in Scotland than ever before and are directly funding 1,000 additional police officers with the first 150 already hitting the beat across the country."
The figures today showed that the number of recorded crimes dropped by 8% across the country to 385,509 in 2007/08 – the lowest number recorded since 1980.
The number of non-sexual violent crimes dropped by 9% to 12,874, with crimes of dishonesty falling for the ninth consecutive year to stand at 166,718 cases in 2007/08 – a 9% drop on the previous year.
Recorded cases of vandalism, which includes fire-raising, fell by 9% to 118,025 last year.
The number of sexual crimes fell 3% to 6,726, with rape and attempted rape down 6% to 1,053.
Drugs offences were down 4% to 40,746, while crimes of handling an offensive weapon were down 11% to 8,989.
The introduction of legislation last year making it illegal to solicit for the purposes of prostitution has seen crimes in this area more than double from 77 to 187.
Drunkenness has also increased marginally.
Mr MacAskill also said there would be no let up in the Government's "blitz on bevvy and blades" with investment of nearly £200,000 to tackle gang culture.
He added: "We're also tackling the underlying causes of crime – drink, drugs and deprivation – and I recently outlined bold plans to tackle alcohol misuse, while Parliament endorsed our new drugs strategy.
"We are supporting police in tackling illegal drug supplies and smashing criminal gangs through the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce that I set up to ensure co-ordinated action is taken against those who prey on our communities."
Today's figures also indicate the clear-up rate for all recorded crimes in 2007/08 is up slightly at 48%.
The clear-up rate in 2007/08 for non-sexual crimes of violence is higher than in 2006/07, increasing from 60% to 62%.
The full article contains 464 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
