Statistics
Crime in England and Wales 2002/03
| This document is published for archival/historical purposes. It will not be updated. |
"Crime in England and Wales" uses the British Crime Survey (BCS) and the number of crimes recorded by the police to provide a comprehensive account of the latest patterns and trends in high volume crimes.
Title: Crime in England and Wales 2002/03
Author: Jon Simmons and Tricia Dodd
Series: Home Office Statistical Bulletin
Number of pages: 189
Date published: July 2003
The number of crimes recorded by the police for 2002/03 will be slightly inflated due to changes in the way that the police record crime. The National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) has been introduced to ensure that there is consistency between forces as to what crimes are recorded. Where possible, results have been adjusted accordingly.
The BCS questions a sample of the population. The sample size for this survey is bigger than ever before, however it is important to remember that because it is based on a sample, the figures may contain some level of inconsistency.
The report is broken up into 7 chapters;
Extent
Chapter 2 provides a summary of the numbers of crimes reported to the British Crime Survey (BCS), and those crimes that are recorded by the police. These are complementary series that together provide a better picture of crime than could be obtained from either series alone.
Crimes against adults living in private households decreased by two per cent in 2002/03, according to the BCS.
The BCS estimate that 12.3 million crimes were committed against adults living in private households in 2002/03.
The total number of crimes recorded by the police in 2002/03 was just under 5.9 million. This represented a decrease of three per cent after accounting for the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS).
Trends
This chapter looks at how crime patterns have developed from 1997 to the present day. It compares results from the 1997 BCS to the most recent as well as the number of recorded crimes.
Trends in crime as measured by the British Crime Survey, 1997 to 2003/03 (Indexed, 1997=100)
Key
Black = All BCS crime
Blue = Domestic burglary
Yellow = All vehicle theft
Red = All violence
Since 1995, the BCS has reported a fall in crime at each successive survey. There has been a 25 per cent fall in the crime measured by the BCS over the last five years, between 1997 and the 2002/03 BCS (see chart).
The risk of becoming a victim of crime is still historically low at 27%, around the same level as the first BCS in 1982, and one - third lower than the risk in 1995 (40%).
The proportion of crimes that were reported to the police has been stable since the mid-1990s (at around 44%), considerably higher than the reporting rate in the early 1980s (36% in 1981).
Using the same subset of comparable crimes, in 2002/03 the proportion of reported crimes that were recorded by the police was the highest since the BCS began (70%), a clear reflection of the introduction of the new recording standard this year.
Property Crime
This chapter describes the main types of high volume property crime, the relative risk of becoming a victim, and changes over time as well as the impact on victims. It reports that:
There has been a 39 per cent fall in burglary since 1997, as measured by the BCS. The one per cent rise between the 2001/02 interviews and 2002/03 interviews is not statistically significant, but suggests a levelling off of the steep falls since 1995.
Overall, 3.4 per cent of households in England and Wales interviewed in 2002/03 had experienced at least one domestic burglary or attempted burglary in the previous 12 months. This is similar to levels in recent years, but substantially below the figure of 6.4 per cent in 1995.
The average household in England and Wales might expect to become a victim of a completed burglary once every 50 years. This, of course, is the risk across the whole of England and Wales, in some types of areas and for different groups of people, the risks are considerably higher.
Burglaries resulting in the loss of video recorders (14%) were much less common in 2002/03 than in 1997 (34%), and there have been similar falls over time for televisions, hi-fis, and jewellery. However, burglaries of computer equipment were twice as common in 2002/03 (14%) as they were in the mid-1990s, and similarly burglaries resulting in the loss of items such as bags, credit cards and cheque books, and mobile phones, became more common in 2002/03.
Vehicle-related theft has fallen by 31 per cent since 1997, as measured by the BCS. It has continued to fall, and the fall between the 2001/02 and 2002/03 interviews was a statistically significant five per cent.
Violent crime
Violent crimes can involve actual violence, the threat of violence or harassment. One half of all violent crime does not result in any injury to the victim. This chapter describes the main types of violent crime, the numbers reported by the BCS and those recorded by the police, and the relative risks of becoming a victim.
The trends in the different types of violence are reported, including the significant impact of the new National Crime Recording Standard on the numbers of less serious violent crimes recorded by the police, and the impact of the Street Crime Initiative in 2002/03 on robbery.
The BCS estimate for the number of violent incidents experienced by adults in England and Wales (2.8 million) is unchanged from 2001/02.
BCS violence has fallen by 19 per cent since 1999 and by 24 per cent since 1997, both statistically significant, due to reductions in domestic and acquaintance violence rather than stranger assaults.
The risk of becoming a victim of violent crime for those interviewed by the BCS in 2002/03 was 4.1 per cent. Young men aged 16 to 24 were most at risk, with 15.1 per cent experiencing a violent crime of some sort in the year.
In the police statistics, violent crime was one of the crime types most affected by the new crime recording standard. There were just under one million violent crimes recorded by the police in 2002/03, an increase of two per cent since 2001/02, after adjusting for changes in police recording practice.
Of the one million recorded violent crimes, 28 per cent were common assaults and 14 per cent harassment, both of which involve no physical injury to the victim. Furthermore, many of the 'other woundings' (35% of violent crime) will have resulted in minor injuries, such as bruising, grazes and black eyes.
The number of recorded robberies fell by 14 per cent in 2002/03.
Patterns of crime
There is considerable variation in patterns of crime across England and Wales both geographically and by type of area. Many of these differences will result from the variation in the socio-economic make-up of local victims and offenders. The risk of becoming a victim can be very different depending on where you live, and your socio-economic characteristics.
BCS victimisation rates show household crime to be highest in Yorkshire and Humberside and lowest in Wales.
The highest levels of worry about burglary are in Yorkshire and Humberside, North West, West Midlands and London regions. Levels of burglary as recorded by the police were also higher in Yorkshire and Humberside than in any other region.
Yorkshire and Humberside and London region had the highest levels of worry about car crime and are the two regions with the highest incidence of vehicle theft as measured by the BCS.
London displays the highest level of worry about violent crime.
The highest incidence rate for violence against adults is reported by the South East region with an estimated 826 incidents per 10,000 adults compared to 665 over England and Wales as a whole.
The concentration of crime is particularly evident for robbery. Two-thirds of all recorded robberies take place in just five police force areas – the Metropolitan Police, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Avon and Somerset. These five police force areas include large cities and highly populated areas. The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for recording 39 per cent of all robberies in England and Wales.
Detections
There have been a variety of changes to the count of detections over recent years. Detection statistics are only one measure of police effectiveness, and it should be noted that detection rates can vary considerably depending on the type of crime and the manner in which a crime is brought to police attention. Not all crimes in which a suspect is identified will necessarily be reflected in the count of crimes that have been cleared up. Nonetheless:
There were 1.4 million cleared up crimes in 2002/02. This was 23.5 per cent of the 5.9 million crimes recorded (unadjusted for the NCRS effect). Some other crimes may have had a suspect identified, but the case has not progressed far enough to have considered resolved.
The number of detections in 2002/03 (1,388,414) was eight per cent higher than in 2001/02. When set against the number of crimes recorded last year, the detection rate was very slightly lower (23.4 %) then than in 2002/03.
It is difficult to estimate the effect of the full introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard on the overall detection rate in 2002/03. It may have been rather higher without the NCRS, but quantification of the effect is not possible.
Concern about crime
The public's concern about crime encompasses a variety of different attitudes, feelings and reactions towards crime. This chapter addresses the level of worry about crime, which has been falling since the mid -1990s, concerns about personal safety, beliefs about the level of crime and anti-social behaviour, confidence in communities, and also confidence in the criminal justice system. It should be noted that:
Over one-third of the public (38%) believed that crime had risen 'a lot', and a further 35 per cent felt that crime had risen 'a little' over the previous two years. This despite the total number of crimes reported to the BCS falling by 17 per cent since 1999.
Readers of the national tabloid papers are much more likely to consider the national crime rate to have increased a lot over this period, compared to broadsheet readers (43% versus 26%).
Levels of public confidence in most aspects of the Criminal Justice System have tended to decline from 2001/02 levels, except for confidence in the CJS respecting the rights of people accused of committing crimes, which has increased.
The percentage of respondents perceiving a high level of disorder in their local area increased slightly between the 2001/02 and 2002/03. There were small but significant rises in proportions considering teenagers hanging around, rubbish or litter lying around, and people being drunk or rowdy in public places, a problem. However, there has been a significant decrease in the proportion considering racial attacks and racial harassment a problem in their local area.
Worry about burglary has remained generally level since the last survey year; however, worry about car crime and violent crime have decreased during this period.
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Last update: Wednesday, September 17, 2008