Murders in Fife were up last year as the region suffered an increase in violent crime.
Four people were murdered in the region between April and December 2015.
The figure is twice the average for the past five years.
However, Police Scotland said overall crime rates had dropped since 2010.
The force is taking steps to tackle crimes of violence, which it said were increasingly happening behind closed doors.
At yesterday’s Safer Communities Committee meeting, divisional commander Chief Superintendent Angela McLaren said a board led by Superintendent Dougie Milton would be looking at ways of addressing the issue.
Ms McLaren said: “Violent crime, compared to last year, has increased, but last year it was incredibly low.
“Obviously it’s an area of high priority for us and we want to look at different ways of addressing some issues.”
She added: “It’s really important that communities know that there has been a reduction in crime.”
In 2014, there were 251 violent crimes, which was below the five-year average of 282.
The figure for the same period in 2015 was 299.
Police Scotland said statistics had been affected by a change in the way assaults were recorded.
Injuries previously treated as minor are now treated as serious by Police Scotland if the victim is left with a scar.
Ms McLaren said the force was seeing a trend towards violent crimes being committed behind closed doors.
“The problem we are finding now is private space violence,” she said.
“There is a lot of domestic violence and also a lot of problems with people known to each other drinking indoors, and not drinking in pubs.
“These aren’t covered by CCTV. These are people in private dwellings drinking and falling out.”
Overall, there were 156 fewer crimes in Fife between April and December 2015 compared with the period the year before.
Ms McLaren said: “While we don’t sit on our laurels, these results are generally very encouraging.
“I am pleased that crime is continuing to fall and this is very much down to a team approach with our communities and partners.”