According to a recent study by the police watchdog, crime rates in Edinburgh are the highest in Scotland with the most crimes per 10,000 people.

Alarmingly, the city was also home to the lowest detection rate of crime leading to concerns over policing in the capital. While cities such as Glasgow and Aberdeen have seen a decline in the amount of crime, Police Scotland’s Edinburgh division recorded 738.2 crimes per 10,000 of the population in 2014/15 - “well above” the national average of 481.2. 

Major Issue Regarding Crime in Scotland

Although cities in Scotland such as Glasgow have a reputation of being the most prominent for crime, the per 10,000 people stats show that Edinburgh is indeed the worst area for crime regarding rise per annum. Crimes such as robbery and rape were significantly higher in the capital than in anywhere else in Scotland with experts stating that if trends continue for another year then Glasgow will have a better crime rate than Edinburgh.

There was a 1.1%  rise in crimes involving victims in the city, compared with a 5.5% fall across the country as a whole. Sexual offences rose by 21.1%, compared to a national rise of 9.8%, and housebreaking was up by 20.8%. Confidence in the police force was also at a low with reports stating that 55 officers were needed to be drafted in to cover non-essential tasks to fill the void in the number of officers. Some experts stated that there had been too much focus on reducing crime in Glasgow than elsewhere thus resulting in a rise in crime in Edinburgh. 

Despite the criticism, Police Edinburgh insisted that it was doing all it could to tackle crime in the city  Supt Mark Williams, of Police Scotland's Edinburgh division, said: "We've already made real advances to address issues such as housebreaking and, since our specific operation to tackle the issue launched early in 2015, we have halved the number of break-ins per month and doubled our detection rates.

"We have also seen a reduction in violent crime of over 18% against the five-year average with robberies alone down over 28%.

"Theft is a real focus for local policing teams, and overall it has reduced by 12% against a five-year average with motor vehicle thefts down over 26% in the last year alone."

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If you have been accused of theft, robbery or any other crime in Edinburgh or in Scotland, get in touch with our criminal defence solicitors today.