Crime rates decrease for sixth year in a row

We were interested to read that there has been a fall for the sixth consecutive year in the number of people who had criminal proceedings raised against them, according to recent figures released by Scotland’s Chief Statistician.

In 2012-13, the total number of people proceeded against in Scottish courts fell by 7% to 116,623, which is apparently the largest annual fall in the last decade. At the same time the number of people convicted fell at the same rate, down from 108,378 to 100,964.

2012-13 saw convictions fall for nearly all crime types except sexual crimes, which saw an 11% increase from 783 to 866. There were also decreases in the number of convictions for all crimes of violence, with the exception of homicide, which remained at a similar level to 2011-2012.

The number of convictions resulting in jail term decreased by 7% to 14,758, while community sentences increased by 2% to 17,254. The number of short sentences, six months or less, fell by 8% to 9,804, driven by an 11% decrease in sentences of four to six months to 5,470.

While the average jail term in 2012-13 was around nine months – around the same as it was in 2011-12 - the average custodial sentence length for handling an offensive weapon increased by 11% and at around 11 months is almost three times higher than the average term for the same offence in 2003-04.

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