Violent crime in North Ayrshire is currently down 0.3 per cent on the five-year average.
However, there have been four attempted murders, all of which have been detected. Three involved a bladed weapon and one involved a vehicle driven at the victim.
Serious assaults have reduced markedly with just seven crimes recorded in the first quarter compared with 14 last year and a five-year average of 21.2.
Police Scotland Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain presented the findings from the first quarter of the year at last Monday’s meeting of the Police and Fire and Rescue Committee on North Ayrshire Council.
Sexual crime is currently down 15.6 per cent on the five-year average.
The opening quarter has seen a decrease in sexual assaults, while crimes of rape have increased slightly. Non-recent crimes have reduced markedly on those being reported last year.
In total there have been 68 sexual crimes reported in the first quarter, of which seven are non-recent. This compares with 85 crimes in the same period last year. Detection rates currently sit at 86.8 per cent, significantly above last year (43.5 per cent) and the five-year average (54.1 per cent).
This is reflected in rape detections which is currently 84.6 per cent and sexual assault detections at 100 per cent.
Police Scotland has made a concerted effort to raise awareness and encourage survivors of sexual abuse to report incidents regardless of when they occurred.
Domestic abuse crimes are currently down 21.7 per cent on the five-year average. Crimes in quarter one are down slightly compared to last year (214 this year compared with 220 last year).
In 2021/22 crimes increased month on month, while this year crimes showed a peak in April, but the figures for May and June have decreased below those noted last year.
Examination of the types of domestic abuse committed during these first three months indicates that the majority of crimes continue to be minor assaults, however there has been one serious assault, eight rapes and seven domestic abuse act crimes.
Drug supply charges are currently down 52.8 per cent on the five-year average.
Cannabis cultivations have also recorded a decrease this year with five being compared to seven last year.
Robberies are currently down 15.3 per cent on the five-year average.
Minor assaults on members of the public continue to show increased numbers, compared with both last year and the five-year average. Notably seven assaults on retail workers have been recorded in the first quarter of 2022 and these are included in these figures.
April currently shows the greatest volume of crimes reported, however 65 crimes have been reported during the opening quarter which did not take place during these three months.
The current detection rate is 60.3 per cent which is above the figure last year (53.5 per cent) but lower than the five-year average (63.9 per cent).
Hate crimes are currently 2.6 per cent above the five-year average.
However in the first quarter, there has been a decrease noted when compared to last year (30 this year - down from 36).
A single crime can have more than one hate crime type, for example one incident could feature homophobic and sectarian language.
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