More police needed on Edinburgh streets as city struggles to cope with 'capital effect'

Mr Penman, in a detailed review of Police Scotland's Edinburgh Division, said the equivalent of 55 officers a day were taken off routine duties to cover some 1150 planned events in the city every year.

This comes as Edinburgh fails to see the kind of falls in crime recorded elsewhere in the country and continues to clear up a lower proportion of crimes than all other areas.

Mr Penman, pictured below, is seen as an outside candidate to replace Sir Stephen House as chief constable of Police Scotland. He has called on the national force to review the balance between local policing and specialist functions in the capital.

He said: "We have taken the view that many of the issues affecting Edinburgh Division have arisen because of the specific challenges that come with being the capital city.

"The single force has provided greater access to specialist support and has provided additional officers to assist in meeting these challenges. However, believe there is now a need for Police Scotland to review the balance between local policing and specialist resources to ensure there are sufficient officers within response and community policing roles across the division.

“The positive trends across Scotland of reducing crime levels and improved detection rates are not mirrored in Edinburgh.

"However, these challenges around performance existed before the creation of Police Scotland; and the reasons for them are complex and examined in our report."

Edinburgh does not have Scotland's highest crime rate - that still belong to Glasgow, if only just.

However, the Edinburgh division of Police Scotland does have a higher per capita number of crimes than Greater Glasgow, a division which includes the leafy and safe suburbs of East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.

Crime has not dropped as quickly in the old Lothian and Borders force as in Strathclyde. Some insiders believe this may be because commanders in the eastern force were slower to address issues like domestic violence than their colleagues in the West.

However, Edinburgh in recent years has also seen its population - and general level of street and economic activity - grow faster than Glasgow's.

The chart below, from The Herald, shows comparisons between crime in the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

However, Mr Penman chose to compare divisions of Police Scotland rather than local authority areas. This gives a slightly more pessimistic picture of Edinburgh. See the chart below:

The Edinburgh division's clear-up rate compares very badly with the rest of Scotland, as does the other division that made up the legacy force of Lothian and Borders. The table below, produced by Mr Penman's office shows Scotland-wide results:

Clear-up rates tend to be low for crimes like housebreakings, which have been an issue in Edinburgh. Senior officers have declined to go through English-style efforts to increase detections by asking jailed offenders to confess to unsolved crimes, saying this is a waste of time.

The legacy forces areas of the Highlands and Islands and Dumfries and Galloway have the best detection rates in the country. 

Mr Penman also stressed what many other police sources regard as the biggest challenge facing Police Scotland: the amount of time spent dealing with distressed people who could be better served by other agencies.

There has been a 13.1 per cent increase in calls reporting vulnerability, which equates to nearly 38 calls every day, some of which involve individuals who threaten or attempt suicide or self-harm in some way.

Edinburgh is currently introducing a Glasgow-style scheme for NHS psychiatric nurses to take over from police with some vulnerable or distressed people.

Mr Penman also called for talks between Police Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to cut the amount of time officers spend in court.

Violent crime has fallen in Edinburgh, but only by 3.4 per cent in 2014-2015. For many offences, including muggings, it outstrips Glasgow, despite Scotland's biggest city having a tougher reputation.

But the biggest headache for Edinburgh police last year was a rise in housebreakings of more than 20 per cent. Sir Stephen House referred to a "fill your boots" crime spree.

However, this crime, Mr Penman noted, has started to fall.

Chief Superintendent Mark Williams, Edinburgh's local policing commander, stressed this progress.

Responding to Mr Penman's report, he said: "We've already made real advances to address issues such as housebreaking and, since our specific operation to tackle the issue launched early in 2015, we have halved the number of break-ins per month and doubled our detection rates.

"We have also seen a reduction in violent crime of over 18 per cent against the five-year average with robberies alone down over 28 per cent.

"Theft is a real focus for local policing teams and overall it has reduced by 12 per cent against a five-year average, with motor vehicle thefts down over 26 per cent in the last year alone."

"We are not complacent and will continue to focus on reducing anti-social behaviour and violence fuelled by alcohol in the city.

"As today's report shows, the demand for resources in Edinburgh is unique but we will always seek to respond as effectively as we can, calling upon all the resources available to us at both a local and national level."

Edinburgh, with its festivals and Hogmanay festivities, has long had major events. But its capital status since devolution has brought more political demonstration, such as this one, opposed to German far-right group Pegida, pictured below.

Graeme Pearson, a former senior police officer, who now speaks for Labour on justice in the Scottish Parliament, blamed the SNP for Edinburgh failing to keep up with the pace of improvements elsewhere in Scotland.

Mr Pearson, pictured below, said: "These facts fly in the face of the SNP Government's mantra that 1,000 extra officers have delivered low crime levels. Edinburgh is seeing large increases in housebreaking and falling detection rates during a period when policing numbers have held up. 

"Decisions by SNP Ministers have led to increased pressure on our police officers. Cuts to budgets, a reduction in the number of civilian staff and the closure of services. SNP Government decisions have consequences, and this is just the latest example.

"I expect these rising figures to soon be reflected across Scotland as the mess made by the SNP Government implementing policing reforms make their way through the system."

The Liberal Democrats echoed some of Mr Pearson's points.

Their justice spokeswoman Alison McInnes said: “When Police Scotland was created we were told a national force would make it easier to share frontline resources at times of high demand.

"Now we know that robbing Peter to pay Paul and providing temporary cover elsewhere has left Edinburgh scrabbling to meet public demand.

“This report paints a picture of a Police service that is overstretched, under-resourced and struggling to deliver for people in Scotland’s capital.

"Probationary officers are working such long hours that they are finding it difficult to stay fit and healthy."

Ms McInnes, pictured above, added:  “Response times for the most serious calls have gone up, not down. Public confidence in the service has fallen. Housebreaking has increased as the specialist operations to tackle the problem were called off, on, off and on again.

“For officers, staff and the Edinburgh public, the creation of Police Scotland seems to have been all cloud and no silver lining. They will be astounded that just last week the First Minister again insisted that creating police Scotland had been the right thing to do.”

Mr Penman's Recommendations for the Division.

1. Police Scotland should develop a more flexible approach to the use of local policing resources to provide cover for other divisions. This should ensure it is based on actual demand taking account of the subsequent impact on local policing’s capacity to meet public demand.
2. Police Scotland should work with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service to discuss ways to improve the efficient and effective deployment of police officers engaged in maintaining public order and administrative duties within Scottish courts.
3. Police Scotland should review current resourcing arrangements for Edinburgh Division taking into account the balance of public demand, protective demand and the significant pre-planned demand arising from the city’s capital status.