Agenda item

(i) Update on Service and Operational Matters.

(ii) Performance Report. (Copy attached.)

Superintendent Vincent Fisher

2.1         There had been circulated copies of reports by Police Scotland as a supplement to the agenda.  Chief Inspector Vinnie Fisher explained that crime had fallen by 2.61% across the board.  However, a few aspects of crime had increased, notably crimes of violence, hate crime and cyber enabled crimes. Forty-nine recruits had started at the Scottish Police College in November, fourteen of whom joined the Lothians & Scottish Borders Division on 1 March, the highest such intake for a number of years.  The Core Operating System (COS) had been launched, and would provide a single crime reporting and case management platform for Police Scotland.  The new system had replaced the legacy systems that had been in place since the inception of Police Scotland, and was expected to increase the speed of data analysis, and provide improved confidence in the accuracy of figures and data. 

2.2         Chief Inspector Fisher presented the Quarter 3 Police Scotland report and highlighted that as a result of the missing person coordinator being on a leave of absence there was a lack of validated missing person incidents during Q2. The staff member had returned to work, and it was hoped that would allow the inclusion of the relevant, up to date, missing person figures in the Quarter 4 report.  There had been 896 incidents of domestic abuse reported, an increase of 2.26% compared to the five year average.  A 16% increase had been seen nationally.  The detection rate in the Borders was 68.73%, compared to 64% nationally.  Chief Inspector Fisher stressed that the increased number of incidents did not mean that the level of criminality had increased, but that zero tolerance measures and work to increase the confidence of victims to report crime had led to a higher degree of crimes being reported.    The majority of reported hate crimes did not include an element of physical violence.  14% of hate crime incidents involved the police as victims.  As with all crime, it remained challenging to secure the necessary corroborating evidence to secure hate crime convictions.  Whilst the overall rate of sexual crimes had remained almost static at 0.21% compared to the five year average, rape and attempted rape had increased by 11.94%.  Chief Inspector Fisher explained that a proactive approach to investigating historical crimes, and work to instil confidence in victims to report crimes, had led to the increases.  The Oakleaf forensic medical suite at the Borders General Hospital had opened, which would provide support to rape victims, and allow appropriate forensic evidence to be gathered and stored until such time as the victim was confident to report the crime to police.   Crimes of drug supply, production and cultivation had increased by 2.36% compared to the five year average.  Laboratory testing was required to confirm that a crime had taken place where drugs in instances where drugs were seized. Where the test was negative for drugs then no crime had occurred and would be reflected as such in the statistics.  Crimes of violence had increased by 47.54% on the five year average, which equated to an increase of 40.6 crimes.  Chief Inspector Fisher highlighted that a number of offences under the Domestic Abuse Scotland Act and crimes such as sextortion, which were relatively new offences, had contributed to the increase. Sextortion offences posed a unique challenges to Police Scotland due to their cross border and digital nature.   There had been a 60% increase in robbery, an increase of 6 compared to the five year average.  There was no pattern to the robberies in terms of time, date or location, however they did appear to be opportunistic and potentially drug related.  75% of the robberies were committed by a people known to the complainer.  Common assaults had increased by 22.5% compared to the five year average, 42% of which occurred in private spaces. Domestic assaults accounted for 29% of all common assaults, of which 17% were non-recent.   In response to a question regarding whether the increase in the number of robberies were related to drug or cost of living factors, Chief Inspector Fisher explained that both of those elements could have contributed.  The amount of crack cocaine, which had a shorter duration of effect, being detected in the region had increased also increased.  That higher turnaround meant that a higher quantity of drugs could be being used, further driving acquisitive crime.  Work to tackle drug offences, including the use and supply of crack cocaine, was ongoing and involved a suite of tactical options. 

2.3         The number of anti-social behaviour incidents had decreased by 20.94% compared to the five year average, a decrease of 693.8 incidents.  Fire-raising was an exception, which had increased by 51.72%.  Chief Inspector Fisher attributed the rise to 3 main protagonists whom had been charged with multiple instances of fire-raising.  Acquisitive crimes of dishonesty had decreased by 2.85% compared to the five year average. Frauds had increased by 46% compared to the five year average.  Similar increases had also been seen nationally.  All housebreaking crimes had decreased by 17.83% compared to the five year average.  Offences of housebreakings ranged from crude, low-value incidents to higher value, sophisticated crimes.  The number of fatal road casualties had increased by 83% compared to the five year average.  Long term Scottish Government Figures continued to show a steady decline in road casualties over the past decade.  Regarding serious and organised crime, Operation Jabiru had been launched in October 2022 targeting criminals operating within the region.   Firearms, over £18k in cash, and luxury goods in excess of £50k had been seized.  Chief Inspector Fisher explained that he could not provide further context to the number of complaints received, as the procedure had been centralised.  Attendees welcomed the report and thanked Chief Inspector Fisher for providing additional context to the statistical information. 

DECISION

AGREED to note the Report.