Thursday September 10th 2015
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale MSP Christine Grahame is welcoming official statistics showing there has been a marked drop in offensive weapons crime throughout her constituency since 2006/7.
Since 2007 an additional 1,000 police officers have been delivered by the SNP government and, as well as enforcing legislation, the No Knives, Better Lives campaign is educating young people about the risks and consequences of carrying a knife.
In Midlothian between 2006/7 and 2014/15 the number of young people under 19 convicted of handling an offensive weapon fell by 73% from 135 to 37.
In the Scottish Borders the figure fell from 120 to 42, a drop of 65%.
Ms Grahame said:
“I very much welcome this substantial fall in offensive weapon crimes in my constituency and with 1,000 more police on the streets communities are safer than they have been for 41 years. Crime has fallen for eight years in a row.
“I would commend our police officers for the sterling work they do in keeping our communities safe. The work of the Violence Reluctance Unit and the No Knives, Better Lives campaign in particular have made a substantial contribution to this reduction in offensive weapons crimes.
“However, I don’t believe we can be complacent and if this welcome trend is to continue it is important to carry on educating our young people about the serious consequences of carrying knives.”
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