Mick Hartley

Well who could have seen this coming?

Hate crime reports in Scotland are on course to outnumber all other offences put together, figures show, as front-line officers warned they “can’t cope” with the surge.

Around 8,000 hate crime reports have been made in the first week of the new Scottish legislation coming into force, which, if replicated through the year, would surpass the entire annual total of 416,000 crimes reported to police, according to an analysis of official data by The Telegraph….

David Threadgold, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents front-line officers, told the BBC: “Police Scotland have gone public and said that on every occasion, reports of hate crime will be investigated.

“That creates a situation where we simply cannot cope at the moment. Officers have been brought back in to do overtime shifts and the management of that is simply unsustainable.”…

Analysis by The Telegraph shows Police Scotland is already failing to solve an increasing number of shoplifting cases, sexual assaults and car thefts. Clear-up rates – referring to cases where there is enough evidence for criminal proceedings –for two-thirds of all offences have declined since 2011 including violent offences, fraud and rape.

It comes amid growing criticism of the Scottish Government’s crime policies, which have seen officer numbers fall to their lowest level in 15 years, the introduction of plans to shut 29 police stations and a policy of not investigating offences such as some minor thefts or criminal damage.