Chamber and committees

The information requested is given in table 4 of the following publication, Police Recorded Crime in Scotland - Additional tables (1) following the publication of Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2008-09, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 49472).

The percentage change in handling offensive weapons is influenced by a range of factors, including the extent of targeted action by police. For example, in 2008-09, police in Scotland stopped and searched around 257,000 people, supporting the Violence Reduction Unit''s on-going anti-violence campaign.

Such proactive action may mean the reduction in handling offensive weapons is not greater because the police are catching more criminals. We will continue to take action to reduce crime related to offensive weapons. For example, we will invest at least £13 million through to 2011 in youth diversionary activities to keep young people out of trouble and away from knives.

Police authority budgets are comprised of funding from constituent local authorities and police grant from the Scottish Government. It is not possible to separate funding of police officer recruitment between these two funding mechanisms. The Scottish Government pledged to fund the recruitment of 1,000 additional officers over the current Parliamentary term and details of the number of additional officers funded by the Scottish Government, along with those funded by police authorities, are shown in the following table. As police officers are appointed to police forces and their deployment is an operational matter for chief constables, it is not possible to show their deployment by local authority area.

Police Officers Recruited and Trained From May 2007 to October 2009

Police Force	Funded by Police Authorities	Funded by the Scottish Government	Total
Central Scotland Police	61	39	100
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary	43	23	66
Fife Constabulary	66	48	114
Grampian Police	235	78	313
Lothian and Borders Police	363	144	507
Northern Constabulary	121	43	164
Strathclyde Police	1,186	366	1,552
Tayside Police	89	60	149
Total	2,164	801	2,965

 

The information requested is given in Table 4 of Police Recorded Crime - Additional tables (1) following the publication of Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2008-09, published by the Scottish Government in October 2009, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament''s Information Centre (Bib. number 49472).

These figures relate to the production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs.

The significant increase coincides with Operation League, an intelligence and enforcement operation to combat cannabis cultivation, involving all police forces in Scotland, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs. Since its commencement, over 111,000 cannabis plants with a value of £34.2 million have been seized.

Given police numbers are at a record high, it is possible for more attention and resources to be devoted to tackling crime in Scotland, including a number of highly successful police operations throughout Scotland targeting drug dealers.

The level of crime recorded in these categories has been relatively stable for a number of years, subject to some fluctuation year-on-year.

We are committed to tackling drug use and drug crime. Enforcement action has seen unprecedented successes, with last year the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency seizing a record amount of Class A drugs.

Enforcement is one element of our comprehensive drug strategy, The Road to Recovery, which is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/05/22161610/0.

Sections 50A(1)(a) and 50A(1)(b) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation)(Scotland) Act 1995 introduced two new offences of racially aggravated harassment and racially aggravated conduct. These sections of the act came into force on 30 September 1998.

The number of racially aggravated harassment and racially aggravated conduct offences (554) recorded by Grampian police in 2008-09 is the highest figure recorded, based on information available from Grampian police force following the introduction of this legislation.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling racist crime and racism more broadly in Scotland. Police and other organisations are working hard to build networks and provide reassurance and advice to ethnic minority communities. That has led to greater awareness within these organisations and within communities of racist crimes, and an increased willingness to report these incidents by the public.

We are aware that Grampian Police have identified that throughout 2008-09 improvements have been made to reporting and recording practices, to ensure all incidents are captured and shared with partners, such as Grampian Racial Equality Council (GREC).

We will shortly be launching another phase of the One Scotland anti-racism campaign which seeks to tackle racist attitudes at a national level. 29 October will see a Rock Against Racism event take place in Aberdeen. This event and the publicity around it seek to take the anti-racism message to a younger audience. In addition, we are providing support to a number of organisations across Scotland working with ethnic minority communities to encourage integration and improve community cohesion. Two projects, Grampian Racial Equality Council (GREC) and Minority Ethnic Aberdeen Limited (MEAL) are working specifically on this issue in the Aberdeen area.

The information requested is given in table 2 of Police Recorded Crime - Additional tables (1) following the publication of Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2008-09, published by the Scottish Government in October 2009, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 49472).

Over the last five years, there has been a decrease in the number of domestic housebreaking crimes recorded by the police per 10,000 population for Scotland. There has also been a general decrease in the number of domestic housebreaking crimes recorded by the police per 10,000 population in Aberdeen City over this period. In 2005-06, the rate for Aberdeen City was almost two and a half times the Scottish average but the latest figures for 2008-09 show that the rate stands at just over twice the Scottish average.

Domestic housebreaking has been a priority for Grampian police force for a number of years and this type of crime received significant focus of resources, with significant reductions being achieved. Additionally, funded by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Business Crime Centre runs a number of retail and acquisitive crime initiatives, including the Scottish Safer Areas Initiative and the Retailers Against Crime Initiative.

The composition of police force staff is an operational matter for chief constables. This government supports the efforts of the chief constables across Scotland to ensure that as many officers as possible are deployed on frontline policing in our communities. We are providing record funding for policing and we are committed to providing 1,000 extra officers in our communities by 2011.