New figures show crime levels in Fife are '˜steady'

The statistics, covering April to June 2017, show a one per cent overall increase in serious offences such as violent crimes and sexual crimes, but also a one per cent increase in crime detections when compared to the same period last year.

Violent crime remains a policing priority both divisionally and nationally. Overall violent crime in Fife has fallen by 3.7 per cent (46 fewer offences) with an increased detection rate of 84.9 per cent.

Almost every serious assault in the period was detected, with the rate rising to 97.4 per cent, an increase of 13.5 per cent, and every robbery reported has been detected.

Crimes associated with antisocial behaviour have reduced, with vandalism down 3.5 per cent and fire-raising has also fallen by 11.1 per cent when compared to last year.

In relation to acquisitive crime, performance remains strong with housebreaking (including attempts) down by 2.3 per cent (four fewer instances) whilst domestic housebreaking decreased by 4.5 per cent (three fewer instances).

Chief Superintendent Colin Gall, Divisional Commander for Fife, said: “I am pleased to report these figures which show we are working hard to tackle the issues that our communities are most concerned about and affect their quality of life.

“We have introduced a series of operations in priority areas and they are already paying dividend. Operation Path, concentrates on violence, closely linked to Operation Prevail for antisocial behaviour.

“They help us to co-ordinate our response to any minor crimes linked to antisocial behaviour and take steps to prevent them escalating to more violent crimes. Projects like Kickstart, a football camp for youths run by community officers, and dedicated youth antisocial behaviour patrols, where with partners we engage with young people in known hotspots will be continuing.

“Operation Principle is tackling acquisitive crime in the Kingdom. Housebreaking, fraud, theft, and shoplifting are all closely monitored.”

He said a high profile operation tackling the misuse of drugs has encouraged communities to pass on vital information that police can act on to take substances away and bring those supplying them to justice.

He said there has been a slight increase in drugs charges thanks to the intelligence received.

Chief Superintendent Gall said the increase in child abuse crimes in Fife by 20.9 per cent is down to increased public confidence when reporting crimes and past offences have now been reported and investigated. Reports of indecent images of children have increased by 100 per cent (eight more instances) and offences of communicating indecently have increased by 86.7 per cent (13 more instances), which he attributes to high profile police campaigns in respect of child sexual exploitation and online offending.

He added: “Road safety is something our communities always feel strongly about. In Fife we have seen fewer people hurt on our roads, a reduction of 73 casualties. We have also seen people using the roads more safely, with a significant decrease in road crime - 44.4 per cent fewer speeding offences (305 fewer instances), and a 55.3 per cent fall in seatbelt offences (109 fewer instances).”