THE standard of recording crimes in Scotland has been maintained during the merging of the police into a single force, a new report has revealed.
But the national review, which was made by Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS), said there are still improvements that could be made.
The study examined 1501 crimes and incidents across Police Scotland's 14 divisions between June and August this year, in order to check they were compliant with the crime recording standards set up after the merging of the single force on April 1.
George Graham, HM Inspector of Constabulary Scotland, said the results were "encouraging", citing the 99% compliance rate for recording domestic abuse as an example of "what can be achieved when a focused and robust approach is taken".
However, he said there was still scope for improvement in the recording of crimes such as assault and sexual offence.
He said: "There are opportunities for further improvements ... however, I take confidence from the fact that not only did we see high standards being applied Police Scotland also expressed a clear focus and commitment to ensure standards were met in the future."
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