Ministers must tackle root causes of recession related crime
September 29, 2009 4:08 PM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson Robert Brown MSP has urged Ministers to do more to tackle crimes linked to the recession.
Official figures published today (Tuesday) show that the number of Crimes of Dishonesty has risen for the first time in ten years between 2008-09 to 167,812.
The Crimes of Dishonesty category is the only one of the five crime groups that has risen in the last year. Crimes of dishonesty include offences such as fraud, burglary, shoplifting, car theft and stealing from a lock fast place.
Commenting, Mr Brown said:
"It is worrying that crimes of dishonesty, like shop lifting, burglary and fraud have bucked the national trend and are on the rise.
"This could well be linked to the current recession.
"Shop lifting alone is up ten percent in the last year. In desperate times people will turn to desperate measures.
"Police forces must clamp down on these offenders and make it crystal clear that there is never an excuse for this type of crime.
"But Ministers need to tackle the root causes of this type of crime - deprivation and the recession.
"The Scottish Government must abandon its political pet projects such as the National Conversation and instead focus on protecting jobs and boosting the economy."
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