Crime in England & Wales 2008/09
Main summary
This bulletin brings together statistics from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and crimes recorded by the police to provide a comprehensive account of patterns and trends in the main high volume crimes. Each source has different strengths and weaknesses but together they provide a more comprehensive picture of crime than could be obtained from either series alone. These statistics inform public debate about crime and support the development and monitoring of policy, for example by highlighting groups that are most at risk of certain crimes. The report includes data from the period April 2008 to March 2009.
Title: Crime in England & Wales 2008/09
Authors: Alison Walker, John Flatley, Chris Kershaw and Debbie Moon
Series: Home Office Statistical Bulletin 11/09
Number of pages: 195
Date published: July 2009
Availability: Download full report 
PDF 1.15Mb
IS THERE MORE CRIME THAN LAST YEAR?
The BCS and police recorded crime differ in their coverage of crime. Overall, crime as measured by the BCS shows no change compared with the 2007/08 BCS with no change in most crime types. Crimes recorded by the police show a 5% decrease compared with 2007/08, with decreases in most crime types.
British Crime Survey | Police Recorded Crime | |
→ All BCS crime stable (10.7 million crimes in 2008/09) → Violent crime - stable → with injury - stable → Domestic burglary - stable → Vehicle-related theft - stable ↑ Theft from the person up 25% → Vandalism - stable ↑ Risk of being a victim of crime up from 22% to 23% | ↓ All police recorded crime down 5% to 4.7 million crimes ↓ Violence against the person down 6% ↓ with injury down 7% ↑ Domestic burglary up 1% ↓ Offences against vehicles down 10% ↓ Theft from the person down 12% ↓ Criminal damage down 10% ↓ Robbery down 5% ↑ Drugs offences up 6% |
Based on the 2008/09 BCS, violent crime remained stable compared with the previous year (the apparent 4% fall was not statistically significant). For police recorded crime, total violence against the person decreased by 6%.
There was no change in the level of domestic burglary as measured by the BCS. Overall, police recorded burglary also showed little change with a 1% increase in domestic burglaries and a 2% fall in non-domestic burglaries.
The BCS shows that vehicle-related thefts and vandalism are stable compared with 10% falls in police recorded crime for both offences against vehicles and criminal damage.
The BCS shows that robberies are stable compared with a 5% fall in police recorded crime.
The latest figures show some divergence between the two sources in offences of theft from the person (e.g. pickpocketing) and bicycle theft. The BCS shows increases in both theft from the person (25%) and bicycle theft (22%), In contrast, thefts from the person recorded by the police fell by 12% while there was no change in thefts of a pedal cycle.
Other sources of data are also available to give a more complete picture of crime. Fraud is a good example of this, as it is substantially under-reported to the police and is not included in the main BCS count of crime. The UK Cards Association records information on plastic card fraud in the UK.
- There were 2.8 million fraudulent transactions on UK-issued cards recorded in the UK in 2008, an increase of 4% from 2007 (2.7 million).
- The BCS shows that the risk of being a victim of plastic card fraud increased from 4.7% to 6.4% among card users interviewed in 2007/08 and 2008/09.
HOW HAVE LEVELS OF CRIME CHANGED OVER THE LONGER TERM?
Long-term trends show that BCS crime rose steadily from 1981 through to the early 1990s, peaking in 1995. Crime then fell, making 1995 a significant turning point. The fall was substantial until 2004/05. Since then, BCS crime has shown little overall change with the exception of a statistically significant reduction of 10% in 2007/08 (the lowest ever level since the first results in 1981). The apparent increase of 5% in BCS crime this year is not statistically significant. Trends in BCS violence, vehicle-related theft and burglary broadly reflect the trend in all BCS crime.
Change in BCS crime by major crime type, 1981-2008/09
Further information
Click here for our extended summary including information on
- How is crime measured in England & Wales?
- Which crimes are included?
- Focus on violent crime
- Who is at risk of crime?
- Repeat victimisation
- Variation by area
- How much crime do the police detect?
- How confident are people in the police and criminal justice system?
- Do people think crime is going up or down?
- Do people think anti-social behaviour is a problem?
Getting a copy
Download Crime in England & Wales 2008/09 PDF 1.15Mb
Volume 2
Crime in England and Wales Volume 2 is a reference guide with explanatory notes regarding the issues and classifications which are key to the production of the crime statistics. Previously, the contents of this volume were included in the main annual bulletin alongside the latest year’s findings. From 2008/09 the technical information is provided separately to make the crime figures more accessible to users. Volume 1 covers the levels and trends in crime statistics, while Volume 2 provides the explanatory notes, hence technical details remain available to users, and in parts, have been expanded.
Download Crime in England & Wales 2008/09 Volume 2 PDF 457Kb
Last update: Monday, July 20, 2009