THE number of assaults, robberies and attempted murders on the streets of Scotland's largest city is falling.
New figures show that serious violent crime in Glasgow has dropped by more than 30% this year.
Police chiefs said they are happy with the figures, but warned against assuming that the west of Scotland's problem with booze-fuelled violence is fixed.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, of Strathclyde Police, said: "We know from working with other partners that once figures start improving the pace tends to slacken, because we think headway has been made.
"We need to keep up momentum.
"Steve House, as Chief Constable of the new Police Force of Scotland, has made it clear that violence is, and will continue to be, a key issue as we move forward."
The statistics – for the first half of the financial year – show serious violent crime falling even faster than over the last five historic years of decline.
The drops in some of the most serious offences, so-called Group 1 crimes such as murder, attempted murder and serious assault, are so steep over the six months that they will have a major impact on Scotland's national figures.
The headline figures for the Strathclyde area comparing April-October 2011 with the same month of 2012 are:
l Overall Group 1 crimes down 25% from 3197 to 2393;
l Attempted murders down 33.6% from 128 to 85;
l Serious assault down 28.6% from 1602 to 1144;
l Robbery and assault with intent to rob down 31% from 750 to 519.
There are a whole range of reasons why Glasgow in particular and Strathclyde in general are getting safer.
These include new police tactics and increasing police numbers; a bigger focus on old-fashioned youth work and declines in deprivation over the last decade.
Jon Bannister of Glasgow University, meanwhile, believes the recession could also be having an effect, especially in the city centre. Scottish alcohol consumption is also falling although it remains far higher than, for example, in England.
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