Aberdeen City has seen crime drop by almost 40% in the last ten years – the second-biggest reduction in Scotland.
New statistics from the National Records of Scotland (NRS) show the total number of crimes in the city recorded by police fell from 18,749 in 2010-11 to 11,452 in 2019-20, a drop of 39%.
Only the Western Isles saw a larger fall, as they recorded a remarkable 45% fewer crimes between the start and end of the last decade.
In Aberdeen, there were 76% fewer cases of housebreaking recorded by police between 2010-11 and 2019-20 – from 1,463 in a year down to just 344.
Thefts of a motor vehicle also plummeted by more than 70%, from 657 at the start of the decade to 191.
Domestic abuse statistics have been included in the NRS release for the first time, after the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 was enacted in April 2019. Aberdeen recorded 162 cases in the last year.
Due to this new inclusion, the total number of non-sexual crimes of violence has increased by 20% in the city since 2018-19 – though other crimes that fall into that category saw fairly significant reductions.
For example, there were 22% fewer robberies in 2019-20 than the year before.
There has been an enormous drop in motor vehicle offences in Aberdeen since they were first grouped by the NRS in 2013/14 – from 10,655 down to 5,577.
The number of motor vehicle mobile phone offences recorded by police fell from 814 in 2010-11 to just 90 last year.
In Scotland as a whole, total recorded crime is down by 24% between 2010-11 and 2019-20, though the number of recorded sexual crimes has doubled in that same time.
The NRS states that at least 40% of the sexual crimes recorded by the police in 2019-20 related to a victim under the age of 18 – a proportion similar to the previous year.
Regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown on the statistics, the NRS said: “This had a significant impact on daily living which also affected the number of crimes and offences recorded, to varying degrees.
“As these developments only cover the final few days of the 2019-20 reporting year, they are unlikely to have had a significant effect on the crime statistics presented in this bulletin.
“However they are likely to have a more significant impact on the 2020-21 figures.”
Superintendent Kate Stephen said: “The figures underline that our officers, staff and Special Constables remain absolutely committed to ensuring the North East remains one of the safest place to live in Scotland.
“Our focus on prevention is absolutely key to our activity each day and the strong relationships we have with our partners cannot be underestimated; we do not work in isolation, indeed the outcomes we have achieved, less crime, fewer victims, is testament to the effective partnerships and the collective goal of improving the lives of the communities we serve.
“Keeping People Safe is at the heart of local policing in the North East and our community based approach has contributed to record lows in crime and highest ever detection rates. These could only have been achieved through the community planning approach with partners at both statutory and third sector levels and indeed communities themselves.
“This builds on extremely positive and collaborative work over many years to drive crime down. Police Scotland has a strong relationship with the public and I want to thank them for their continued support as we work hard to keep people safe.”
