MORE rape, violence, domestic abuse, serious assaults, shoplifting and sexual assault occurred last year in Annandale and Eskdale than in 2023.
Police recorded a rise in all these types of crimes in the six months between April and September 2024, compared to the year before.
And one notable statistic is the 31 per cent increase in violent crime against the five year average.
But it was not all bad news as at the same time there were drops in housebreakings, vehicle thefts, fraud and robbery.
And when it came to serious assaults, the police reported a 100 per cent detection rate.
They also solved half of all rapes and nearly half of the sexual assaults, 46 per cent of shoplifting cases, but just 14 per cent of house thefts.
The full breakdown of the force’s performance in the Annandale and Eskdale patch is contained in a report prepared for the area committee meeting due to take place in Annan Town Hall later this month.
It also reveals there were 39 attacks on emergency workers and 218 common assaults, as well as 305 crimes of violence overall in Annandale and Eskdale.
In the six month period, there were 80 instances of shoplifting locally, seven housebreakings, 41 frauds, ten vehicle thefts, 11 rapes, 19 sex attacks and 16 cases of domestic abuse on females and one on a man.
As for drugs, only region wide information is available but that shows there were 21 related deaths in Dumfries and Galloway, as well as 14 crimes of drug supply and 32 of possession.
Data from the roads cops is also only supplied at regional level, but reveals that in the timespan, there were 1046 speeding offences, 161 mobile phone offences, 140 dangerous driving offences, and 211 people were caught driving under the influence.
Furthermore, two people were killed on the roads and 49 were seriously injured.
The five priorities set by the police in Dumfries and Galloway are reducing violence and disorder; reducing the harm caused by substance misuse; road safety and road crime; acquisitive crime and emerging trends; and protecting people most at risk of harm.
Chief Inspector Duncan Cameron will be in attendance to present the report and answer councillors’ questions at the meeting on March 26.
