Police in Edinburgh have released their yearly crime statistics for the city, showing an increase in sexual assaults and a rise in overall violent crime over the past year.
The yearly crime statistics break down crime into five different groups and across all the council areas in Scotland.
This year's statistics show an increase in overall crimes across the first four groups in the capital - with some specific types of crime dropping while others have risen more sharply.
READ MORE: East Lothian family of missing teen fear he could be alone hiding from people
Group one deals with violent crimes, including murder, serious assaults and domestic abuse. Over the past year overall group one crimes have risen from 861 to 1063 - a rise of 23 percent.
Although attempted murders and culpable homicide has dropped over the past year, serious assaults have increased from 190 to 208 and domestic abuse reports have increased from 100 to 132.
Group two crimes deal with sex crimes including rape, sexual assault and indecent exposure. The new Police statistics show that sexual assault in the city has risen from 266 to 421 reported cases over the past year.
Group three crimes include housebreaking and common theft. Over the past year theft has increased from 2569 to 3172 and shoplifting has increased from 2617 to 3040. A 603 and 423 increase, respectively.
Group four crimes include vandalism and reckless conduct. In Edinburgh vandalism has increased from 3785 to 3969 and reckless conduct with a firearm has increased from one reported case to five.
However, the police have said that most crime is, on a five-year average, continuing to trend downward and highlight that these statistics show a drop in drug crime and housebreaking.
Chief Superintendent Sean Scott, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh said: “What the Management of Information data provides us with is a snapshot of crime rates during a specific time and, as DCC Taylor has stated, they show the impact COVID has had and continues to have. However, it’s important to emphasise that, over the longer term 5 year average, most crime is on a downward trend.
“I am encouraged that, as we return to a sense of normality, areas that have been continually falling, such as housebreaking, have continued to reduce. However, we will not become complacent in our efforts to prevent further incidents of housebreaking occurring.
“We do continue to see a rise in fraud, but the Capital is not alone in experiencing this increase, with the country as a whole seeing a near 19% rise in crimes of this nature. This is once again evidence of the importance of Police Scotland’s cyber strategy to enhance our investigative presence in the online realm.
“However, we recognise the importance of remaining visible in our communities and continuing to tackle issues such as public space violence, sexual crime and of course, road safety. Particularly given the increased numbers of road casualties and motoring offences.”
