North Lanarkshire ranks as the fourth worst council area in Scotland when it comes to recorded crime.
Statistics reveal that not only does the local authority area have the fourth highest recorded number of crimes overall at 530 per 10,000 people, it also has the fourth largest number of sexual violence crimes.
The data that covers the period from 2020 to 2021 reveals that there were 827 crimes of sexual violence recorded in North Lanarkshire.
The figures obtained from the Scottish Government website were analysed by A-Plan Insurance to determine the most common types of crime and the proportion per 10,000 head of population.
Crimes of dishonesty were the most recorded; these include theft, fraud, white-collar crime, doorstep and online scams.
More than 10,750 of these types of crime were recorded across the two local authority areas in Lanarkshire.
North Lanarkshire ranked third in this category, with only the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh recording more.
There were 5839 crimes of dishonesty and 3323 involving vandalism or fire raising in North Lanarkshire. And the local authority was second only to Glasgow with a further 6058 crimes categorised as “other”.
South Lanarkshire ranked twelfth in terms of crimes per 10,000 people with 463.
North Lanarkshire recorded the third highest number of crimes overall accounting for 18,070 of Scotland’s recorded total of 246,511. There were 14,829 in South Lanarkshire.
Despite having the second-highest population, the City of Edinburgh was placed as the area with the seventh-highest crime rate. Between 2020 and 2021, there were 499 crimes reported per 10,000. The area records the second-highest crimes of violence as well as sexual crimes, just below Glasgow City.
Unsurprisingly, the two cities’ council areas (Glasgow and Edinburgh) had the highest number of recorded crime overall but per 10,000 head of population Dundee City had the highest number of crimes recorded with 688. It was followed by Glasgow City with 682 and West Dunbartonshire with 632 crimes per 10,000 people, then North Lanarkshire.
The figures also show there were 629 sexual crimes recorded during the same period in South Lanarkshire out of a total of 14,829, which had a rate of 463 per 10,000 people.
A total of 538 violent crimes (non-sexual) were recorded in North Lanarkshire, while the number was slightly lower in South Lanarkshire at 510. South Lanarkshire also had 4950 crimes of dishonesty and 2607 relating to vandalism or fire raising, and a further 4703 “other crimes”.
Both Lanarkshire local authority areas had a similar number of Coronavirus restrictions related crimes recorded; 1485 in North Lanarkshire while neighbouring South Lanarkshire had 1430.
Lanarkshire’s Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Alan Waddell said: "Officers across North and South Lanarkshire continue to be highly visible in communities providing reassurance and guidance, as well as carrying out an increasing amount of proactive activity to help keep our communities safe and protect vulnerable people.
“Over the last year proactive policing across all of Lanarkshire has helped detect extra crimes linked to violence and sexual crime and, despite the challenges of the pandemic, we were still listening to the needs of our communities and addressing their concerns.
“Increases in recorded crime do not always directly correspond with the total number of crimes committed. They can reflect an increase in people’s confidence to report and I would encourage them to continue to do so. We will always listen and act on the information we receive.”
A spokesperson from A-Plan Insurance commented: “Protecting ourselves from crime is an essential part of everyday life and this study very interestingly shows that the type of crime committed across the country varies by region. Fraud is reported massively more than any other crime, perhaps due to the pandemic and movement to online crime.”
A-Plan Insurance has been providing personal insurance services since the 1960s. Visit: aplan.co.uk for more information.
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