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Crime statistics for England & Wales: what's happening to each offence? Crime statistics for England & Wales: what's happening to each offence?
(3 months later)
Crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales fell by 4.2% between the years ending March 2011 and March 2012, according to the latest crime statistics. Crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales fell by 6.1% between the years ending June 2011 and June 2012, according to the latest crime statistics.
Total numbers of crimes recorded for nine of the ten main categories of offence fell compared to the previous year, with criminal damage showing a fall of almost 10%. 9.1m crimes were reported in 2011/12, down from 9.7m the previous year, and 27.2% lower than ten years ago.
As Alan Travis writes here, the trend flies in the face of predictions that the recession would see a rise in crime. Total numbers of crimes recorded for six of the eight main categories of offence fell compared to the previous year, with vandalism showing a fall of almost 10%.
The key figures are: Alan Travis has more here, where he writes:
• Total of 3,976,312 recorded crimes for the year ending March 2012 was - a year-on-year fall of 4.2%
/>• Homicides are now at their lowest level since 1983
/>• Violence against the person is down 7.2% year-on-year, from 822,000 to 763,000
/>• Offences against vehicles (includes car theft) also fell 7.2% year-on-year, to 417,444
/>• Criminal damage decreased by 10% to 631,221
/>• Only one main category of crime - 'other theft offences' (offences excluding robbery, burglary and offences against vehicles) rose year-on-year. The total in 2011/12 was 1,105,117 - a 2.5% increase 		The fall in crime flies in the face of widely held expectations that the continuing recession and rising long-term unemployment would lead to upward pressures on crime, as has happened in some previous recessions.
British crime statistics are complicated partly because of double recording. Firstly, there are the official police figures (which historically under-record the true level of crime). Then there is the old British Crime Survey - now the Crime Survey for England and Wales - where 50,000 people are asked for their direct experiences of crime. This is regarded as the most authoritative of either. There were 1.9m reported incidents of vandalism between July 2011 and June 2012, down 9.8% from 2.1m the previous year. Reports of burglaries, violence and bicycle theft also fell by over 9% each.
The data release also includes a comprehensive breakdown of statistics for the most violent offences, such as homicides and firearms offences. The figures for 2011/12 showed: Below is a selection of other interesting statistics from the latest figures:
• Homicides (includes murder, manslaughter and infanticide) fell year-on-year from 638 to 550 - a 13.8% drop
/>• Attempted murders dropped by 7.6%, from 523 to 483
/>• Firearms offences (not inlcuding air weapons) recorded by the police are down by 15.8%. The 2011/12 total of 5,199 represents a continuation of the steady decline since 2005/06, when the figure was more than twice as high 		Homicides vs attempted murders
Alan Travis explores the link between declining domestic violence and the falling murder rate in greater depth here, writing: 551 homicides (includes murder, manslaughter and infanticide) were reported in 2011/12, a considerable drop on the previous year's total of 638. Homicides are now down to around half of the figure for 2001/2.
Commentators have suggested that declines of up to 40% in domestic violence incidents reported in public surveys may be due to the provision of better housing and other services that provide women with a realistic alternative to their relationships, the improved economic and educational status of women, and demographic trends Attempted murders also fell, but by a smaller proportion, dropping by 7.6% in comparison to a fall of 13.6% in homicides.
But one of the most interesting figures is about the perception of crime. The Crime Survey asks people whether they think crime is getting worse where they live and nationally. So, people think crime is getting worse - but not where they live. It's the perception gap between what we know is going on and what we think is going on. Crime rates
We've extracted the key tables for you below. What can you do with them? Reports of crime against an individual in 2011/12 occurred at a rate of 80 per 1,000 people, down from 85 in 2010/11. Household crimes were reported at a rate of 233 per 1,000 households, down from 252.
Data summary Reported vs recorded
Crimes recorded by police in England and Wales, 2011/12 British crime statistics are complicated partly because of double recording. Firstly, there are the official police figures (which historically under-record the true level of crime). Then there is the old British Crime Survey - now the Crime Survey for England and Wales - where over 40,000 people are asked for their direct experiences of crime. This is regarded as the most authoritative of either.
Columns show numbers of offences, year-on-year change and rate of offences per 1,000 people. Click headings to sort There were 9.1m reported crimes in 2011/12, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, but less than half as many - 3.9m - were recorded by the police.
Recorded crime by police force area, English region and Wales, 12 months to March 2012 The drop in recorded crimes was slightly smaller than the fall in reported incidents, standing at 5.9%.
Perception of crime
Another of the more interesting figures is that of the perception of crime. The Crime Survey asks people whether they think crime is getting worse where they live and nationally. So, people think crime is getting worse - but not where they live. It's the gap between what we know is going on and what we think is going on.
We've extracted the key figures for you below. What can you do with them?
Data summary (figures in bold are aggregates of non-bold
Reported crimes in England and Wales, Jul '11 - Jun '12
Click headings to sort table. Download this data
Source: ONS
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