Crime in Fife on the decline

Recorded crime in Fife has fallen, according to the latest figures published today by Police Scotland.

The end of year (2015/16) management information shows a reduction of 5.3 per cent in overall crime recorded in Groups 1-5, which equates to over 750 fewer victims of crime.

Significant drops have been recorded in a number of key crime categories –

* A 10.3 per cent reduction in crimes of dishonesty

* This includes a 22 per cent reduction in housebreaking

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

* And a 14 per cent fall in the number of motor vehicle crimes

Superintendent Dougie Milton said: “This reduction in crime is testament to the hard work of officers and our partners in Fife, in keeping the Kingdom a safe place in which to live, work and visit. Whilst fewer crimes have been committed, we are still detecting a significant number, over 60 per cent, and we are continuing to use our resources to tackle those issues where further improvement is needed and where communities raise concerns.

“Last autumn we saw a rise in dishonesty related offences – things like housebreakings, car thefts, crimes which are particularly hard hitting emotionally and financially where victims feel their personal space, where they should feel safest, has been invaded. We took a coordinated approach using local Community Ward Officers to deliver crime prevention alongside CID robustly investigating the offences, and as a result a male was identified as being responsible for 42 offences and a number of stolen vehicles were recovered.

“This is the model we will continue to use across the Division, whether it is with Rural Watch schemes in our villages or dedicated patrols by the Licensing and Violence Reduction team in our town centres, to deal with alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour. By putting resources into these key areas we can intervene early on with a view to preventing crimes from occurring, and where they do happen we will follow up with a strong investigation to put offenders before the courts.”