‘Significant rise’ in assaults as Covid restrictions eased
Police Scotland has recorded a “significant rise” in reports of common assault, due largely to the re-opening of licensed premises and more large gatherings as Covid-19 restrictions were eased.
Online offences have also surged by more than 60 per cent since 2018/19
Police Scotland said while reports of overall violent crime between April and September (32,328) were in line with the five-year average (down 0.1 per cent) they were significantly higher than last year’s figure (30,538) when there had been substantial reductions in such offences.
“This has been driven by a significant rise in reports of common assault (29,500 in total, up from 27,682) compared to last year, with the re-opening of licensed premises and more large gatherings contributing to the increase,” said Police Scotland.
Its latest Performance Report, which includes information covering the period between April and September, also shows that overall sexual crime continues to be recorded at a high level with 7,519 offences reported in the first two quarters of 2021/22, up 13.4 per cent year on year (6,629) and up 17.3 per cent on the five-year average.
Recorded crime for crime types that typically contain an ‘online element’ – fraud, threats and extortion, communications and image offences and stalking – have also increased by more than 60 per cent since 2018/19.
Police Scotland said it was bolstering its policing response for communities following a highly demanding summer period.
More than 200 officers have been re-deployed to local policing with new arrangements introduced into its Contact, Command and Control (C3) Division, which are designed to increase uptake of overtime.
Police Scotland says this follows a busy first half of 2021/22, during which reported crime returned to pre-lockdown levels in a number of categories, while additional and complex demand with an online element continued to grow.
Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: “As has been publicly underlined by the chief constable, the summer period presented an exceptional level of demand on officers and staff, including displaced demand from key partners who continue to operate under critical pressure.
“The demand and challenges experienced in our C3 Division has led to increased 101 average answer times as we continue to prioritise emergency 999 calls.
“We have introduced changes to overtime payments for service centre staff as part of a range of measures to manage the ongoing high demand on our non-emergency 101 service. We anticipate these changes will increase uptake of overtime and further support our ability to manage peaks in demand.
“Additionally, we are taking steps to support local policing and, by way of example, Flexible Response Unit officers have returned to their local policing divisions for the foreseeable future.”
Police Scotland’s latest Performance Report was presented to the Scottish Police Authority Policing Performance Committee on Thursday (December 9).