Week 1: Crime in Communities Intro

What's it all about? (click the arrow -->)

In this unit we're looking at the role crime plays within our communities. It might not be something you've given much thought before but what makes a crime a crime? Where's the line between non-criminal and criminal behaviour? We'll consider things like who the victims of crime are and how crime can impact whole communities, not just the direct victims. We're also going to look at what types of crimes exist, how they are categorised and the prevalence/trends of each category within our own society.

The latest Scottish crime statistics can be found here: Recorded Crime 2018-19

The SQA Unit Specification can be found here: SQA - Crime in the Community Level 5

Where do we get our crime stats?

National Statistics on crimes and offences recorded by the police in 2018-19 provide a measure of the volume of criminal activity with which the police are faced.

Crimes recorded by the police do not reveal the incidence of all crime committed since not all crimes are reported to the police. However, once recorded the crimes are classified into different groups.

In Scotland, we recognise 7 categories of criminal behaviour:

Non sexual crimes of violence
Sexual crimes
Crimes of dishonesty
Fire-raising, vandalism etc
Other crimes
Miscellaneous offences
Motor vehicle offences

The term "crime" is generally used for the more serious criminal acts; the less serious are termed "offences". The distinction is made only for statistical reporting purposes and has no impact on how the police investigate reports of criminal activity. The "seriousness" of the offence is generally related to the maximum sentence that can be imposed.

Trends in Crime Statistics

When we talk about trends we're talking about the 'general direction in which something is developing or changing'. From the infographic above we can see that most types of crime have been steadily falling over the last decade, however crimes of a sexual nature have continued to climb.

OVERALL CRIME IN SCOTLAND HAS MORE THAN HALVED SINCE 1991

(LONG TERM DOWNTREND)

BUT LEVELS OF CRIME FLUCTUATE ANNUALLY...

(SHORT TERM TRENDS)

BETWEEN 2017/18 AND 2018/19....

Crimes recorded by the police in Scotland increased by 1% from 244,504 to 246,480. The recording of crime remains at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974.

Non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 10%, from 7,251 to 8,008. The recording of these crimes remains at a lower level than all years between 1980 and 2011-12.

Sexual crimes increased by 8% from 12,487 to 13,547. The recording of these crimes is at the highest level seen since 1971, the first year for which comparable groups are available.

Crimes of dishonesty remained almost unchanged, increasing by less than 1% from 114,474 to 114,506. The recording of these crimes is at the third lowest level seen since 1971.

Fire-raising, vandalism etc. decreased by 6% from 51,322 to 47,997. The recording of these crimes is at the lowest level seen since 1976.

Other crimes increased by 6% from 58,970 to 62,422. Most of these crimes relate to Drug possession, Crimes against public justice or Handling offensive weapons.

So, what types of crime are most popular?

The chart shows the number of recorded crimes in each of the five crime groups since 1971 and gives an indication of the scale of each crime group. Crimes of dishonesty are the largest group, accounting for 46% of all recorded crime in 2018-19. This was followed by Other crimes (25%), Fire-raising, vandalism etc. (19%), Sexual crimes (5%) and Non-sexual crimes of violence (3%).

Why do you think crimes of dishonesty are most common? Do you think other countries would be the same? Why / why not?

And who's committing the most crimes?

There were 453 recorded crimes per 10,000 population in 2018-19.

All three of Scotland's city based areas recorded higher than average rates; Glasgow City (717 per 10,000 population), Edinburgh City (604 per 10,000 population) and Dundee City (595 per 10,000 population). Glasgow accounts for about 12% of Scotland's total population but 18% of its crime!

In Fife, we're less criminally inclined on average than other Scots with 383 recorded crimes per 10,000.

Do you think there's a link between how 'urban' a place is and the crime rates? Why might that be?

SUMMARY:

POLICE SCOTLAND RECORD INSTANCES OF CRIME WITHIN SEVEN CATEGORIES (5 CRIME CATEGORIES, 2 OFFENCE CATEGORIES)
LEVELS OF RECORDED CRIME HAVE FALLEN STEADILY SINCE A PEAK IN 1971 BUT SOME TYPES OF CRIME ARE ON THE RISE YEAR-ON-YEAR
CRIMES OF DISHONESTY ARE THE MOST COMMON CATEGORY OF CRIME, ACCOUNTING FOR NEARLY HALF OF ALL RECORDED CRIMES IN SCOTLAND
GLASGOW, EDINBURGH AND DUNDEE SHOW THE HIGHEST RECORD OF CRIME PER CAPITA WHILE THE OUTER HEBRIDES, ORKNEY AND SHETLAND ISLANDS SHOW THE LOWEST. THE SCOTLAND AVERAGE IN 2019 WAS 453 RECORDED CRIMES PER 10K
CRIMINOLOGISTS NEED TO BE CAREFUL WHEN INTERPRETING CRIME STATISTICS, POLICE SCOTLAND CAN ONLY REPORT CRIMES WHICH ARE REPORTED AND JUST BECAUSE A CRIME IS REPORTED DOESN'T MEAN IT ENDS IN A CRIMINAL CONVICTION

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