The government are trying many tactics and have funded many government responses to crime. This article is useful if you are just doing a bit of research or if your wanting help with university, college or school.
This shows 3 main ways that the government have tried their hardest to conquer crimes in Scotland.
Table of Contents
No knives better lives.
One government response to knife crime has been to fund the No Knives Better Lives education program. Scotland used to be known as the knife crime and murder capital of Europe so NKBL is funded up to try and tackle knife crime by tackling the reasons why people carried a knife. For example, it has worked with local authorities with high levels of knife crime like Glasgow and used a mix of hard-hitting videos, competitions and peer educators.
Alcohol reduction and alcohol unit pricing.
One response of the Scottish Government to Alcohol related crime has been to introduce laws to reduce alcohol consumption. The hope by the government was this would encourage people to drink less alcohol which would reduce the amount of crimes that are committed while under the influence of alcohol. For example, they introduced the Road Traffic Act 2014 which reduced the amount someone can drink and then drive. They have also made alcohol more expensive with the Minimum Unit Pricing Act.
Violence reduction unit.
The Scottish Government has funded the Violence Reduction Unit to address Scotland and Glasgow once infamous gang problem. The VRU is funded to tackle gang crime as if it was a disease which means the team target the causes of gang crime before it happens rather than just waiting to punish people. For example, the VRU in Glasgow has employed former offenders to help them turn other gang members away from crime and get them the education, training and support they needed to get away from being in a gang.
Are government responses to crime effective?
Arguably the government has been successful due to the fall in knife related crime. Scotland used to have a reputation as the knife crime capital of Europe but in recent years the rate of knife related crime as fallen and many other cities and countries have started to look at how Scotland has managed this. For example between 2011 and 2016 no one under 20 died in an incident involving a knife in Glasgow.
Arguably the government have had some success in tackling alcohol related crime due to fewer drunk offenders. In recent years the Scottish Government has introduced a range of new laws designed to try and reduce alcohol consumption and related crime. For example by 2019 the number of offenders under the influence had decreased significantly since 2008/09.
Arguably the government had had some success in tackling crime due to the falls in the number of violent crimes. The Scottish Government as introduced some world leading changes such as the Violence Reduction Unit designed to treat crime like a disease and so try to deal with the cause of violent crime rather than wait for the crimes to happen. For example murder rates in Glasgow have dropped around 60% in 10 years.
Ineffectiveness of responses to crime.
Arguably the government still has more to do more as knife crime continues in Scotland. Despite some success there continues to be examples of knives being used in Scotland to commit horrible and sometimes fatal crimes. For example knife crime continues to still be a problem in Scotland such as the case with James Wright who had previous knife convictions going on to stab a father of 3 in paisley.
Arguably the government still has more to do more as alcohol related crime is a big problem. Despite some reductions in the amount that people drink in Scotland there continues to be a very large amount of crime that is committed by offenders who are under the influence. For example in recent years the government has found around 2/3 of serious assaults are still committed while under the influence.
Arguably the government still has much to do due to recent rises in violent crime. Though there is an overall fall in violent crime in the last 10 years there continues to be very high-profile examples of violent crime in Scotland and there has been an increase in recent years. For example non-sexual violent crime has increased 16% between 2018/19 and 2019/20.
