Aberdeen experienced a rise in shoplifting and hate crime last year, but police efforts to tackle organised crime are bearing fruit, according to a new report.
The paper to be presented to next week’s public protection committee details the force’s performance between April and September last year.
It reveals slight increases in shoplifting thefts, with 1,069 in 2019 compared with 988 in 2018, and rise in the number of hate crimes from 113 in 2018 to 124 in 2019.
But there has been a fall in many other areas, with reports of car crime, vandalism, drunken and disorderly conduct and fire-raising all falling.
The performance report, which includes figures for a six-month period up to September 30 last year, will be discussed at a meeting of Aberdeen City Council’s public protection committee on Wednesday.
During that time, 1,381 assaults were recorded, a 12% drop on the five-year average and down also from the same period in 2018, when 1,389 were recorded.
North-east division is also working with Merseyside police and other forces in major cities to crack down on organised crime gangs operating in the north-east.
There was an 82% rise in seizures of money and drugs from gangsters, with the police recovering £185,433 in illicit cash and substances.
Drug deaths fell from 20 in 2018 to 14 last year.
The report reads: “By working in communities, local officers have improved public confidence to report suspicious or criminal activity, contributing to our intelligence-led approach and to the creation of a hostile environment for those intent on causing harm in our communities.”