Crime: introduction

Crime, through its impact on victims and through its indirect effects on the wider community and their perception of crime, clearly has strong links to health and well-being.

In recent years, overall recorded crime levels have dropped to their lowest levels in nearly a quarter of a century. However it is accepted that often crime is not reported and so recorded crime numbers only provide a partial picture of true crime levels. Bearing this caveat in mind, it is notable that over the last ten years there have been large drops in crimes of dishonesty (e.g. robbery, housebreaking and theft of & from a vehicle) and over the last couple of years non-sexual crimes of violence and serious violent crime have also reduced. Drug related crime and 'fire-raising & vandalism', which had risen over most of the last ten years, have also reduced in the mostly recently reported year (2007/08). These are, however, overall national trends that are not necessarily consistent throughout Scotland.

Clearly the nature, frequency and 'profile' of different crimes occurring within neighbourhoods will impact on people's concerns about crime and their feelings of safety about living in their neighbourhood. The Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey (SCVS) and the Scottish Household Survey are the main sources for information on people's perceptions of crime and fear of crime in communities.

The data pages provide examples of patterns and trends in recorded crime levels and perception of crime within Scotland, while the key data sources page provides links to crime related information on other web sites. It is also worth noting that a related section of this site provides detailed information on drugs misuse within Scotland.