Cyber crime and road offences on the rise in Highlands and Islands
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The Highlands and Islands has seen an increase in driving offences despite Police Scotland highlighting road safety as a top priority.
In its Q3 Management of Information data, which covers April 1 to December 31, 2021, the force said crime levels in the region remained consistent.
However, it admitted there had been an increase in various road traffic offences as well as road casualties.
In total, there were 20 more casualties on Highland and Island roads, which includes two further fatalities and nine more serious injury collisions.
Dangerous driving reports were up from 145 to 181, while drink and drug driving crimes also increased, from 338 to 478. There was also a rise of 10 incidents in driving while disqualified.
Police Scotland's Highland and Islands Division has also seen a continued and significant rise in fraud offences, with online crime becoming more and more prevalent.
This year, reported fraud rose from 336 in 2020/21, to 454. It said this reflects statistics across the country.
There was better news in terms of housebreakings, including attempted break-ins, which decreased from 211 last year to 149.
And sexual offences fell slightly from 501 to 494, with what the force called "positive reductions" for rape and attempted rape, as well as crimes under the Sexual Offences Scotland Act (SOSA).
Detection rates for incidents of this nature also improved.
Chief Superintendent Conrad Trickett, Divisional Commander for Highland and Islands Division, said: “Our Q3 data is a snapshot of a period of unprecedented demand for Scottish policing, including the COP26 summit and the continued challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Highlands and Islands Division was not immune to this demand and the efforts of police across the country resulted in sustained levels of high public confidence in policing.
“Reflecting on this, I want to thank all of our division’s officers and staff for their outstanding efforts in keeping our region safe for everyone who lives here, as well as those who regularly flock here for tourism and recreation.
“To further assist local policing in the Highlands and Islands, Police Scotland is making significant investment in digital technology for the region, which will enable police officers to create and update crime records on mobile devices, reducing the time they spend returning to the office to update systems at their desks.
“This will be of particular benefit to those officers working in remote and rural areas where they are often mobile and long distances away from their officer in the course of their duties.
“Given all of the demands placed on local policing teams, I am really encouraged to see some positive reductions in crimes such as housebreaking, rape and attempted rape. However, we cannot become complacent and must continue to work in collaboration with key partners to address areas where there have been rises in reported offences.
“With fraud rising across the country due to the growing prevalence of cyber offences, the enhanced investment in cyber investigation, as part of Police Scotland’s Cyber Strategy, is an important step forward in tackling these crimes.”
The Performance Report was published on Monday and will be presented to the Scottish Police Authority Policing Performance Committee.
