The crime rate in Edinburgh was 35 per cent lower in 2014 than in 2004, according to Scottish Government Crime Statistics.
Try telling that to the dozens of small businesses across Broughton and the New Town which have had their premises none too subtly broken into in recent years by thieves looking for cash and easily trouserable goods unsecured within.
Any fall in recorded crime, we suspect, says a great deal about how often incidents are recorded by the Police. Anecdotal evidence from Dundas Street suggests PCs are unwilling to bog themselves down in paperwork over aborted break-ins or entries where nothing was stolen. These non-appearances, of course, then flatter to deceive when it comes to compiling statistics.
Dicle Cafe, Celadon 2U and Tailor Design on Rodney Street were the latest independents to suffer in our area. They sustained damage to doors and windows last Friday at around 5.00am. The genius responsible was spotted by a local early-riser who dialled 999. Police officers arrived with commendable speed and chased the culprit up the hill before catching him on Scotland Street.
A knife was later found to be missing from the cafe, but was not recovered. The event has been upsetting, inconvenient, and potentially expensive for the individuals affected. Will it appear on Police Scotland's next set of statistics? We're not so sure.
In the meantime, Dicle staff assure locals that, despite appearances, all's well inside and they are open for business as usual.
Got a view? Tell us at spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle and Facebook
[Graph pinched from CEC's Edinburgh by Numbers 2015.]
-------------------------
@theSpurtle Used to be only nightclubs had bouncers & that was just Fri. & Sat. night. Now even during the day Tesco et al. need bouncers.
Franki Preece Pleased to hear they caught the person responsible.
Rachel Bell I hope the cops give them a good shoeing!!