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New figures have shown that Police Scotland is failing to solve an increasing number of shoplifting cases.
About 8,000 hate crime reports were made in the first week of the legislation coming into force, overtaking the total of 6,927 hate crimes in the entire year of 2020/21.
Figures are provided on the number of “cleared up” offences.
This means there is enough evidence to justify considering criminal proceedings but does not mean that someone has necessarily been charged or prosecuted for the crime in question.
The new hate crime laws have proved controversial
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According to The Telegraph, clear up rates for two-thirds of offences have declined since 2011 including violence, fraud and rape.
Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation David Threadgold said: “Police Scotland have gone public and said that on every occasion, reports of hate crime will be investigated.
“That creates a situation where we simply cannot cope at the moment. Officers have been brought back in to do overtime shifts and the management of that is simply unsustainable.
“When you have vexatious complaints, people who look to weaponise this legislation or who make these complaints for personal gain or political point scoring, then that creates a problem for the police which can affect public satisfaction in my organisation”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Protests were held against the amendments to the law
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Police Scotland’s clear-up rate has improved from 52.4 per cent in 2011 to 53.3 per cent in 2023 as recorded crime has fallen from 394,155 to 289,362 over the same period.
But the clear-up rate has declined in 26 of the 38 crime groups including shoplifting, which is down from 71.3 per cent to 53.5 per cent since 2011, sexual assault (down from 63.8 per cent to 54.2 per cent) and car theft (43.3 per cent to 38.4 per cent).
Fraud, one of the 10 most common crimes with 16,879 offences reported in 2023, also fell dramatically, from a clear-up rate of 57.2 per cent in 2011 to just 16.1 per cent in 2023. The number of frauds had doubled from 8,983 in 2011.
With 8,000 hate crimes reported in the first week since the new law, it was a figure that dwarfed the weekly rates for other crimes such as assaults (which were record at 1104 a week last year), threatening behaviour (835), vandalism (712), shoplifting (548), drug possession (428) and fraud (323).
Protests were held against the bill
PA
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “While we have seen a substantial increase in the number of online hate crime reports being received since April 1, these have been managed within our contact centres and have not impacted frontline policing.
“The data is from 2022/23 when Police Scotland officers were facing an increased demand, which was evidenced by a higher number of calls, and resources were prioritised in these areas.
“Although the challenges facing Police Scotland should not be underestimated, officers continue to provide effective policing to communities across the country.”
A Scottish government spokesman said: “We have worked with partners, including Police Scotland, to ensure effective implementation of the act, and the timetable for commencement has allowed for the delivery of a robust package of training and guidance for police officers. Training officers is an operational matter to Police Scotland.”
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