Police Scotland have said that reported crime in the north of the capital has come down by just over 23% compared to the same period last year.
Reports of violent crime across Leith, Leith Walk, Inverleith and Forth wards have reduced by 20% and robberies have fallen by 27%.
Police are also pleased to say that for this type of crime almost 3 out of every 4 has been solved.
Chief Inspector Richard Horan, Local Area Commander for North Edinburgh, said: “I am fortunate to work with a very talented and enthusiastic team of officers who are determined to make sure that the area in which they live and work is kept safe.
“Our anti-violence initiative in Leith, Operation Elbrus, has been utilising high visibility targeted patrols at key times and locations. The ongoing work of the Violent Offender Watch in Edinburgh and the investigations of our dedicated Violent Crime Unit have been invaluable in achieving this reduction, as have the funded officers within the Divisional Violence Reduction Unit.”
Reports of anti-social behaviour are down by approximately 10%, and calls surrounding similar types of disorder are down the same. The City of Edinburgh Council has obtained a number of ASBOs for high-level repeat offenders, and the number of joint interventions using funded officers continues to rise.
Councillor Cammy Day, Community Safety Leader for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I am delighted that there has been such a significant drop in crime in the north of the capital. A huge amount of work has been put into tackling criminal activity in this part of Edinburgh, and the figures reflect that this effort has been well worth it.
“Partnership working between the Council, Police Scotland and the wider community on initiatives such as Stronger North has played a vital part in dealing with issues of concern, as has an increase in patrols by community police and community safety officers. Residents can be assured that efforts to keep them safe will continue.”
Domestic housebreaking is down by almost 12% and business housebreaking down by 50% thanks to the hard work of local officers and the Community Investigation Unit. The Vehicle Crime Team, assisted by local officers, has helped reduce vehicle crime by 30% while detection rates for this have doubled.
CI Horan continued: “Housebreaking remains Edinburgh’s number one priority, and I’m grateful for all the hard work our officers and partners have been doing to prevent this deeply personal crime. We’ve improved our ability to identify trends which have provided real benefits in quickly responding to emerging issues, and we have been assisted by a number of national units such as road policing and air support.”
Officers have just completed a 6-month refresh of the Multi-Member Ward Plans for the North of the city, which are the policing priorities that the local community have identified for action. Further opportunity for members of the local community to influence future priorities will commence early next year.
Each of the four local ward plans include reducing violent crime, tackling anti-social behaviour, and reducing housebreaking as three of the key priorities told to officers by the public.
Leith and Leith Walk also have tackling drug and alcohol abuse as a priority, and there is significant work ongoing throughout Edinburgh in relation to this. This includes the recent NPS Forfeiture Order, which is the first granted to a local authority area in Scotland, and 21 people were on Friday (30 October) charged with various drugs offences following a series of raids across the Capital involving over 170 officers.
Forth and Inverleith also have road safety as a priority, and local officers will continue to work alongside the Road Policing Unit and the City of Edinburgh Council to prevent unsafe driving behaviour and detect offenders.
For more information on what’s happening in your area please visit www.scotland.police.uk/your-community/edinburgh, like Edinburgh Police Division on Facebook or follow @EdinNorthPolice on Twitter.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
