CRIME RISE IN STRATHCLYDE MAY SIGNAL NEW TREND

Scotland's largest police force yesterday reported the first rise in crime
for seven years, prompting fears that it could herald a nationwide trend.

The latest annual figures compiled by Strathclyde Police show overall crime
increased by 4.5 per cent last year, with notable rises in violent crimes.

The statistics follow year-on-year decreases in Strathclyde since 1992, and
a similar downward trend has been reported by the country's other seven forces.

Chief Constable John Orr, discussing his annual report, blamed a lack of
funds for leaving his force under-strength and claimed 350 more officers
were needed for a full complement.

He said: "Perhaps the Scottish parliament and the police board will support
the police with adequate funds for us to do the job."

Despite the overall rise in the number of offences, Mr Orr insisted that the
streets of Strathclyde were safer, pointing out that last year's toll of 59
murders was the lowest since 1991, and that 43.2 per cent of all crimes were
solved, the best detection rate ever recorded by the force.

However, he was forced to admit the number of offenders caught carrying
weapons had hit a ten-year high, despite a number of high-profile campaigns
against knives.

Mr Orr warned that the emergence of violent criminals, considered more
dangerous to the public than Glasgow's infamous razor gangs of the 1930s,
accounted for the growing number of street attacks.

The number of rapes and indecent assaults fell last year, but non-sexual
violence was up in most categories: attempted murders rose by 17.5 per cent
to 355; serious assaults by 9.25 per cent to 3,898; and robberies by 12.7
per cent to 3,639. There were 145 armed assaults on police officers.

Mr Orr said that the increase in violence was due to "opportunistic,
gratuitous attacks" by young men who did not care who they hurt. "It is
something we have not seen in the last 15 years. It's not like the razor
gangs who targeted each other, these people strike at random."

Mr Orr said that CCTV cameras were proving crucial in arresting youths
carrying out attacks.

There were 527 racially-motivated crimes reported last year, a new high, but
both Mr Orr and the new convener of the Strathclyde Joint Police Board,
Councillor Bashir Maan, put the rise down to an increased willingness among
minority groups to report attacks that previously went unrecorded.

The new figures follow recent warnings from the Home Office that crimes
against property, including break-ins and car crime, are expected to
increase by 40 per cent over the next three years, due to an increase in the
number of teenagers in Britain.

But Dr Hazel Croall, the author of Crime and Society in Britain and a
lecturer at Strathclyde University, said yesterday that another social
change may be fuelling street violence.

She said: "There is evidence that, in times of prosperity,violent crime can
go up as young men have more money and so go out more and drink more."

She said that the reversal of the recent crime figures was "very disturbing,
particularly given the nature of the crimes".

"I would be wary of reading too much into one year's figures, but I think it
is important to look at next year's figures and try to find out why this is
happening."

Yesterday, Mr Orr said his force had seized a record 42 kilograms of heroin
in the six months to March - almost three times the amount seized in the
previous year.

He said the amount of drugs recovered reflected both an increase in supply
to the city, and better co-operation between police, customs and other agencies.

Last night, a BBC Scotland report claimed the heroin trade in Glasgow was
worth an estimated UKP70 million each year - double the combined turnover of
Rangers and Celtic football clubs.

Last year, there were 99 drugs deaths in Strathclyde, up from 61 the
previous year. The drugs-related death toll in the region has already
reached 67 this year.