Reduction in crimes in Grampian

Police Scotland has released management information which shows a steep drop in overall offences across Aberdeenshire and Moray Division.

The figures show the total number of crimes across the region has fallen by 17.7 per cent with crimes of dishonesty and anti-social behaviour dropping significantly.

Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Mark McLaren commented on the figures: “Crimes of dishonesty, particularly housebreakings, are down by over 34 per cent and motor vehicle crime has fallen by almost 39 per cent.

“This is welcome news as break-ins to residents’ houses in particular, are very rare in Aberdeenshire and Moray and the number of incidents reported here are amongst the lowest in the country and the numbers are still dropping.

“Working with partners and the community, we are grateful that through a combination of investigation and prevention activity, there are over 1300 fewer victims of dishonesty this year, and that has to be good news.

“The positive news continues with common assault down by 117 crimes and reports of anti-social behaviour also down by 789.

“Where we have seen a small numerical increase though is in the crime of serious assault, however the number is still very low.

“Even allowing for the small increase in serious assaults, the local figures for Aberdeenshire and Moray are still almost half of the national average and statistically, only parts of the Highlands and Islands have violent crime rates lower than these.

“Nevertheless, a number of these incidents continue to be fuelled by alcohol and those involved are often known to each other. Through our work with Operation Sandside, officers have been working to reduce incidents of violence even further, and where incidents do take place, officers deal with offenders robustly to ensure that they face the consequences of their actions.”

“There has been a significant drop in road traffic offences, with almost 2,000 fewer cases of speeding in particular and 44 fewer overall casualties in road traffic collisions.

Despite this progress, we cannot be complacent as we have still seen 30 people who have died on our roads over the last year. This highlights the importance of strategies like Operation CEDAR (Challenge, Educate, Detect and Reduce),”