Recession drives assault down, theft up

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Reported crime in Scotland has dropped to its lowest point in 30 years, but prostitution and shoplifting, driven by hard times, are on the rise, officials said.

Police said at least some of the drop in violent crime might also be a result of the bad economy, The Times of London reported.

"The reduction in serious assault may not only be the result of a force violence reduction campaign but also a reduced 'night time economy,'" Strathclyde police said, reporting that assaults dropped 6 percent from May 2008 to April 2009.

Overall, 377,433 criminal incidents were reported during the year. Police cleared almost half, 49 percent, of them, the highest rate in two decades, The Scotsman reported.

But the number of thefts increased for the first time in several years, with the rise in shoplifting especially marked. Police in the Lothian and Borders region said the number of reported shoplifting incidents was up 25 percent.

"In desperate times people will take desperate measures," said Richard Brown, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats.

Prostitution-related crime was up 5 percent. Police said some of the increase followed a 2007 law allowing the arrest of those seeking prostitutes.