09-10 Scottish crime statistics have been released.  It reveals that there were 380,000 serious crimes recorded in Scotland in 2009-10, including murder, rape and serious assault – a fifth lower than in 2000-1. 

• The average sentence handed down by the courts for serious crimes is now nine months – more than double the level they were in 2005-6.
• Police solved nearly half of all serious recorded crimes last year, compared with 44 per cent in 2000-1.
• The Scottish Government has put an extra 1,000 officers on the beat and promised to maintain this despite police forces facing cuts of 2.6 per cent per year.
• prison sentences have risen to their longest in a decade as crime continues to fall. However, fewer people are being sent to prison as the courts  use  more community punishments. With a new presumption against sentences of three months or less being introduced this month, offenders will be handed community payback orders.

Source : The Scottish Government Crime and Justice Series: Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2009-10 report.  For further information and quotations from politicians see the Scotsman article: