Violent crime in Glenrothes up by a third

According to statistics, the total number of ‘group one crimes of violence’ from April to September 2016 rose from 23 to 31 – an increase of nearly 35 per cent.

There was one murder in the Glenrothes area, the same as for the same period in 2015, and there were three attempted murders in 2016 compared to one in 2015.

The number of serious assaults rose by 81.8 per cent.

However as police continue to focus on antisocial behaviour and violent crime as on of its priorities - along side crimes of dishonesty and crimes relating to driver behaviour, the introduction of a violence reduction group in February of this year has yielded some success for the Fife Division.

Detection rate for serious assaults in the Glenrothes area went up by over eight per cent to 90 per cent in 2016 period.

Councillors are expected to voice concern over the figures while the number of incidents don’t make pretty pretty reading for the division.

While petty assaults have fallen by nearly 11 per cent to 300 in 2016, detection rates have fallen at a sharper rate from 95.5 per cent in 2015 to that of 80 per cent this year.

However there is some good news for the force.

The detection rate for housebreaking, including attempts, has increased by 25 per cent to 60.8 per cent for 2016.

Motor crime has more than halved and dangerous driving is down by nearly a third.

The police results are in contrast those of the Scottish Fire and Rescue which suggest officers are seeing a number of positive result in key areas with in Glenrothes.

Most notably, in a performance report also to be put before Glenrothes Area Committee, the force has seen a 21 pecent reduction in deliberate fire setting, a problem that in the recent past has plagued the town.

There were 44 incidents in 2016 compared to 56 in 2015.

The reduction is a reflection of the of extensive prevention work carried out by fire crews with a number of Glenrothes schools in the last 12 months

The figures mark a welcomed reduction compared to 2013-2014 when malicious fire setting was a huge problem for the town with 190 reported acts of deliberate fire setting reported in that two year period.

Fire crews also saw a 28 per cent reduction in accidental dwelling fire , however the continued problem of false and unwanted fire alarm calls has continued to increase significantly.

The report confirms that this problematic area will be part of a renewed strategy designed to reduce the number for call out for unwanted or false alarms.

And as part of the ongoing fire prevention strategy, 541 home safety visits were carried out on premises in 2016.