OVER 160 sex offenders are currently living within Dumfries and Galloway, according to data from Police Scotland.
The data shows the number of registered sex offenders by postcode area and it reveals that as of this month there are a total of 165 registered offenders living in this region and a further 69 registered sex offenders in custody.
And the neighbourhoods with the highest number of sex offenders are DG9 covering Stranraer and the Rhins with 28 offenders and DG2 in Dumfries with 26 living within the postcode area.
Meanwhile, there are 25 living within DG1; three living with the DG4 area and four currently within DG3.
In Stewartry, the total number of offenders is 17. The highest numbers are within the DG7 area which serves Castle Douglas and the Glenkens at nine; whereas DG5 and DG6 both have four registered offenders.
In Wigtownshire, there are with six living within DG8. Elsewhere, there are 50 recorded as staying in Annandale.
A Police spokesperson stated this week: “Protecting the public is a priority for Police Scotland. While we can never eliminate risk entirely, we want to reassure communities that all reasonable steps are being taken to protect them.
“We put in place measures to minimise the likelihood of further sexual re-offending by Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) and would seek to re-assure people that sexual re-offending rates remain extremely low.
“RSOs are robustly managed by the police and our partners through the Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), and subject to comprehensive risk assessment and risk management in the community. Police Scotland has units of dedicated officers specially trained for this task.”
