West Dunbartonshire ranks amongst the top three council areas with the highest crime rates in Scotland - despite figures showing a slump in offending over the past decade.
Data from the Scottish Government reveals that the area lags behind only Glasgow and Dundee in the table.
The statistics show 632 crimes were recorded per 10,000 population in West Dunbartonshire in 2020/21.
However on of the area’s top cops has reassured that the region continues to be a safe place to live, work and visit.
Glasgow tops the chart with 688 crimes per 10,000, followed by Dundee on 682.
This is despite a fall in recorded crime in all but three council areas in Scotland over the past 10 years.
Recorded crime in West Dunbartonshire has dropped by 22 percent between the years 2010/11 and 2020/21 - bang on the Scottish average. But figures also show an increase in total recorded crime of 18 percent in the last two years.
It is the second highest increase over the period in Scotland, behind only the Western Isles.
Chief Inspector Coleen Wylie, local area commander for West Dunbartonshire, said: “West Dunbartonshire is still a safe place to live, work and visit with some of Scotland’s most stunning and popular beauty spots.
“Whilst it is acknowledged that overall recorded crime has reduced, I fully recognise the impact that crime has on victims and their families.”
The Lennox Herald told during the summer how locals were too frightened to spend time in Balloch Park after a spate of antisocial behaviour during bouts of good weather.
In June and July two people were suffered serious head injuries following attacks in the park and one lad told us: “It’s not really fair on us locally because it’s at the stage where the boys from here can’t go to Balloch if they want to avoid trouble.”
And officers were lining up at Balloch station to confiscate booze from those visiting the area in a bid to curb the bother.
CCTV cameras have also been installed to try and tackle the problem.
The inspector went on to explain how there had been a jump in online crimes over the past year, saying: “We remain committed to tackling the concerns affecting our local communities, such as the increase in fraud and online harms affecting young people.
“We continue to work with our partners across all sectors, parents/carers and communities to increase awareness and the implementation of our cyber strategy will ensure we continue to build capacity and capability to keep people safe in the virtual space.”
Detective Chief Inspector Douglas Wilson previously reported how there had been a “devastating” rise in the sharing of indecent images by young people which had increased by two thirds in the space of a year when we reported on this earlier this year.
Inspector Wylie stresses that input from the public is key as they prioritise protecting people.
She said:“Public confidence in policing was strong during the pandemic and I would encourage people to continue to report crimes or any other concerns. Ensuring the safety of West Dunbartonshire’s communities is our overarching priority and we will maintain a visible and accessible police presence to assure them of that.”
Data from the Scottish Government’s Recorded Crime in Scotland 2020-21 bulletin shows that recorded crime sits at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974. Fireraising and vandalism also fell to their lowest level since 1975 whereas cyber crime had an astronomic increase, up by a whopping 95 percent between 2019/20 and 2020/21, as well as accounting for one-in-three, or 33 percent of, sexual crimes recorded.
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