Edinburgh’s reported crime rate is lower than that of last year.

Edinburgh is a key part of Lothian and Borders, which saw a 7% drop in recorded crime over the past year. The number of recorded crimes this year was almost 6,000 lower than last year. Edinburgh itself had a 5% reduction in reported crime.

Iain Livingstone, who is the Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "The launch of our Community Commitment, which puts community policing firmly at the heart of what we do, has given added impetus to the progress in reducing crime."

The reduction in crime relates to crimes such as violence, dishonesty, vandalism and drug offences, while reports of certain serious crimes, such as sexual offences and murders, increased.

Livingstone noted that: "While our figures reflect a rise in the most serious types of violent crime, it is relevant to point out that incidents of minor assaults - by far the most common type of assault - have dropped significantly over the past year"

Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police Stephen Allen noted further that "although there were 10 murders, a suspect has been identified for each of them."

While it was reported that around 900 criminal cases could not proceed as a result of Cadder v HMA decision last year, for which see our blog post on Cadder, it is important to note that the above statistics on crime rates in Edinburgh relate to the commission of crimes themselves, rather than convictions of the accused criminals in the Courts.

If, despite these statistics, you are the suspect of a crime or, indeed, have been charged, see our criminal defence services for advice, assistance or representation.