Police - Area Performance Report to Caithness Area Committee on 11 November

6th November 2024

A report by the police to the Caithness area committee on 11 November will allow councillors to discuss a range of issues.

Chief Inspector Calum Smith - Area Commander (North
Highland Area Command) sets out the crime related figures up to June 2024.

I present to you the Caithness Area Committee Scrutiny Report covering the reporting period 1 April 2024 until the 30 June 2024.
The statistics being reported are now at North Highland Area Command level which incorporates the following Area Committees:-
Black Isle and Easter Ross, Caithness, Dingwall and Seaforth, Sutherland and Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh.
A verbal update will be provided by the Police Scotland representative in relation to the local context of this Area Committee.
The interpretation of statistics continues to be a key part of what we do, identifying potential crime trends and ensuring I have the right officers in the right place to keep our communities safe. We do compare data on previous years; however it may be some years before we can accurately compare year on year data as a result of the COVID pandemic. I am always happy to discuss the data and provide some context around the statistics provided within the report.
Following the challenges of the COVID affected years we continue to see trends altering with societal changes. Most recently we saw the effect of the cost-of-living challenges and how this impacted communities, whereby certain crime types such as theft by shoplifting saw an increase. Notably though, in this reporting period, acquisitive crime has overall (apart from fraud) has seen a welcome decrease. In noting this decrease my team and I are all too aware that in addressing criminal behaviour, only one strand of this work relates to detecting crime and in this vein we continue to work closely with Partners to protect the vulnerable people and seek to bring real change to persons and places. The commentary throughout the report highlights some of our ongoing work.
In presenting this report I would like to take the opportunity to highlight our continued proactive work on the road network. In seeking to deliver on our local policing priority around road safety and road crime both the ‘Road Safety and Road Crime'
section of this report along with ‘Group 8 - Road Traffic Offences’ section of the ‘Crime Statistics’ part of this report evidence the continued drive we have undertaken to ensure our road network is as safe as possible. I know this has been a particular area of concern. My team continue to engage with various Partners to ensure the Highlands continues to be a safe and enjoyable place to drive.
Violent crime has seen a very slight increase, however, detection rates have remained high. Hate Crime has seen a rise on the YTD figures. With the recently introduced Hate Crime legislation having come into effect during the reporting period, this is perhaps an anticipated rise. We continue to vigorously pursue detections for all Hate Crimes, seeking to ensure that all opportunities to bring those spreading hate are brought to justice.
You will note from the report a reduction in missing person enquiries from last year. Missing person enquiries place significant demands on our resource, but as can be seen in the commentary attached to the relevant section of the report, we continue proactive engagement with our Partners to seek to reduce this demand wherever possible.
Our work tackling Serious and Organised Crime continues, we continue to disrupt these individuals and working effectively with Partners is key. We use these relationships to identify individuals that are vulnerable to exploitation, making early interventions and making the Highlands inhospitable to Serious and Organised Crime Groups.
On the whole I hope the report will provide confidence as to the continued work my Officers undertake day and night to seek to best serve our communities.

For the full report go to https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/5068/caithness_committee