Violent crime surge makes city centre of the Highland capital the third most dangerous in Scotland
A dramatic surge in violent crime has made the Highland’s capital city the third worst hotspot for recorded offences in Scotland, it is claimed.
In just six years, the Highland capital has leapt from outside the top 50 Scottish troublespots for violence to the worst behind Edinburgh and Glasgow, figures collated by the Times newspaper suggest.
Serious violent crime throughout the country has almost doubled in a decade to more than 1,000 incidents per month.
Serious violent crimes are categorised as including murder and culpable homicide, domestic abuse, death by dangerous driving and robbery, among other non-sexual violent offences.
The increase nationally is being driven by a spate of assaults and robberies.
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Inverness joins Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee in experiencing record high levels of offences per capita - a comparison based on population within council wards.
Some caution must be applied to the figures, given the relatively compact nature of Inverness city centre and the fact our shopping and night-time economies draw in large numbers of people from well outwith the 12,500 Inverness Central catchment.
Police Scotland has, since 2017, published quarterly crime data, broken down by council ward. The most recent ward-level data covers April to June 2023.
Violent crime in the centre of Inverness increased almost fourfold from 2017 to 89 incidents in the 12 months to June 2023.
Assaults and robberies were in low single figures each quarter until 2021, but consistently averaged around one a week in the following two years.
With a population of around 12,500, it means the serious violent crime rate in Inverness Central is now on par with that of Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Will Linden, deputy head of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU), described the rise in violence as “concerning”.
The SVRU is a multi-agency partnership established in 2005 when Scotland spiked as the most violent country in the developed world, with Glasgow dubbed the murder capital of Europe.
The level of serious violent crime in Scotland remains well below the 2005 peak of 137 homicides, including 41 in Glasgow alone.
There were 57 homicides in Scotland in 2023/24, five more than the previous year but the third lowest since comparable records began in 1976.
Mr Linden said: “Every act of violence, no matter where it happens, can have devastating consequences for individuals, families and communities and we believe the public health approach is an important part of the solution to reducing violence.
“This includes a close inspection of all figures to analyse and identify the various factors at play, looking at what the data tells us is driving violence and trying to find opportunities to intervene.
“We know the most effective interventions, both in terms of cost and impact, are those that happen earliest and that is why we will continue to use data to create targeted and evidence-based interventions to interrupt the cycle of violence.”
Sharon Dowey, the Scottish Conservative spokeswoman for victims and community, said violent crime was “spiralling out of control across Scotland”.
She urged the SNP government to abandon its “soft-touch justice approach”, adding: “This has given the green light for violent criminals to wreak havoc across our communities as they know that they often won’t be properly punished.
“With officer numbers continuing to be around their lowest level since 2008, SNP cuts mean hardworking officers do not have the resources they need to keep communities safe.
“SNP ministers should show common sense and instead of surrendering to criminals, they should give the police the resources they need to stop these incidents spiralling even further.”
Liam McArthur, the Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman, said rising violence came “after many years of the SNP neglecting our justice system”.
He said: “The thin blue line of Scottish policing is stretched like never before.
“In recent years, officer numbers have plummeted and Police Scotland have now decided that some crimes won’t be investigated.
“Liberal Democrats would ensure the police have the resources they need to do their jobs and keep everyone safe.”
Police Scotland also publishes provisional management data for the whole of Scotland each quarter.
This reveals that serious violent crime fell slightly in the year to September 2024 but remains above 1,000 incidents a month on average.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Recorded crime is at one of the lowest levels since 1974 and violence-related hospital admissions, knife-carrying, homicide rates and anti-social behaviour are all down over the long term.
“Through our Violence Prevention Framework, we are working with partners on actions to prevent and divert people away from violence, backed by investment of more than £4 million over the past two years.
“Our budget for 2025-26, if approved by parliament, will deliver a record £1.62 billion for policing in 2025-26, an increase of £70 million on 2024-25.”
