THE number of violent crimes recorded by police has shot up by almost a quarter in just one year.

In a report due to go to the Community Planning West Dunbartonshire management board this week, police say the number of “group one” crimes has risen by 23.8 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same time last year.

A group one crime is described as a “non-sexual violent crime”.

Between April and June this year, police in West Dunbartonshire logged 52 violent offences, compared to 42 in the same period last in 2018.

In total, 30 of the crimes reported were serious assaults, which is a jump from just 23 the year before.

The report also shows 64 per cent of all serious assaults were committed by someone who was known to the victim, meaning roughly one third were random attacks.

As well as the spike in violent crimes, the amount of group one incidents which have been successfully detected by police has fallen.

In this first quarter, just 63.5 per cent of crimes resulted in an arrest, compared to 78.6 per cent the year before.

In numerical terms, the number of crimes detected stayed the same, at 33, but the percentage decrease was due to crime rising.

The rate of detection for serious assaults also fell, from 73.9 per cent to 63.3 per cent, with the actual number of crimes committed also falling by two.

Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie said that police should be better resourced to cope with the rise in crime.

She said: “It makes for difficult reading that the number of violent crimes in West Dunbartonshire have risen by 23.8 per cent in comparison to this time last year. The fact that the rate of detections has decreased shows the impact that the fall in frontline police numbers is having.

“The police work incredibly hard to protect the public but they need to be properly resourced in order to do their job, or the thin blue line will get even thinner.”

West Scotland MSP Ross Greer told the Reporter he believes social deprivation to be a key factor in the rise in violent crime.

He said: “The most effective way to reduce crime is to invest in community services and education. Across the world we see the effects of investment in addiction recovery services, youth clubs, debt advisory centres and even libraries.

“Unfortunately here in the UK almost a decade of deep and repeated budget cuts started by the Conservatives have had the opposite effect.

“This rise though is partly explained by better reporting as a result of new domestic abuse legislation, which should be welcomed.

“Tackling that appalling crime means dismantling the toxic, aggressive masculinity which grips our society and that will take everyone, from schools to football clubs to the media.”

Councillor Jim Bollan pointed to poverty as a major cause of the surge.

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He said: “During the years of the right wing Thatcher Government the crime stats also increased and it is no surprise it is happening again under another vicious Tory Government as they freeze wages and benefits plus cutting vital public services along with an ever increasing number of families having to attend foodbanks, while at the same time handing out enormous tax cuts to the rich like the one just announced by the unelected Tory prime minister, Boris Johnson.”