Millions of pounds worth of criminal assets have been seized by police in the north-east.
The Aberdeenshire and Moray division of Police Scotland report, which covers April to September, shows that nearly £3million has been taken by officers under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Crime in the division has dropped across the board when compared with last year, with assault, housebreakings and thefts all falling.
Vandalism, which has decreased by 12.1%, is at its lowest quarterly level in 10 years.
Police have also cited the positive response from the recent Aberdeenshire Citizen’s Panel Survey in which 98% of panel members felt that Aberdeenshire was either a very safe or fairly safe place to live.
Road traffic offences have also reduced, with speeding and mobile phone use more than halved.
However, despite the good work, police in the area say there still remains work to be done, particularly on the region’s roads where there continues to be deaths as a result of car accidents.
Chief Superintendent Mark McLaren, divisional commander for Aberdeenshire and Moray, said: “We will continue to focus on the reduction of violent crime and prevention of violent incidents, however where violent crime occurs we will pursue every opportunity to find those responsible, this is borne out be a detection rate of nearly 90% for serious assault across Aberdeenshire.
“We remain committed to keeping people safe across all of Aberdeenshire and I am confident that with the support of local communities we will improve on these figures over the coming months.”