The Scottish Crime Survey, published today, has identified increasing violence and exposes the fact nearly two-thirds of crime goes unreported.
Specifically, 712,000 crimes were experienced by adults in Scotland which has not changed since 2014, despite previous decreases.
There were an estimated 231,000 violent crimes in 2016/17, an increase of 45,000 since 2014, with victimisation rates higher among 16-24 year olds and people in deprived areas.
In addition, the survey shows that a small number of victims experienced a high proportion of all crime.
The 4.3 per cent of adults who are multiple victims experienced more than 60 per cent of all crime.
In other findings the survey reports that 61 per cent of people are not confident that the Scottish justice system gives punishments that fit the crime, almost 80 per cent of respondents agreed that prisons played an important role in protecting the public from crime, and 93 per cent of adults in 2016/17 considered it very or fairly important to have local police officers who know and patrol their local area.
Lastly, only 58 per cent of adults believe the police in their local area were doing an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ job in 2016/17 - down from 61 percent in 2014/15.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said:
“The abundance of information provided by the Scottish Crime Survey paints a picture of rising violent crime, diminishing confidence in the police and unreported crime.
“It is extremely worrying that violent crime is increasing despite no change in overall crime rates; with a 63 per cent of crime unreported, the true figures could be much, much higher.
“It is particularly troubling that such a small percentage of victims experience over 60 per cent of all crime and it is clear that victim support must be prioritised.
“The public has, once again, made clear their support for the use of prisons, to keep the public safe, and local policing.
“This survey repeatedly highlights how out of touch the SNP justice strategy is and, as a result, public confidence in the police is diminishing.
“The SNP soft touch approach to crime abandons victims, undermines the police and enables criminals to walk away from punishment.”