Quarterly crime update - 12 months to December 2003

Statistics

Quarterly crime update 12 months to December 2003

Crime remained stable over 2003 according to the British Crime Survey (BCS), and police recorded crime. The figures suggest a changed pattern of crime in Britain today, with a greater proportion of anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related violence than crime such as burglary and vehicle theft. The quarterly update shows that recorded burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, have again all fallen significantly. Both the risk of being a victim of crime and the risk of being burgled remain at their lowest levels in more than 20 years.

Title: Crime in England and Wales: Quarterly Update to December 2003
Authors: Olivia Christophersen, Katharine Thorpe and Anna Upson
Series: Home Office Statistical Bulletin 06/04
Number of pages: 10
Date published: April 2004

General

Overall crime as measured by the BCS has remained stable - 1% fewer crimes based on interviews in the 12 months to Dec 03 compared to a year earlier.
Recorded crime is stable according to the latest quarterly figures when compared to the same period the previous year.
The risk of becoming a victim of crime is still historically low at 27%, around the same level as 1981.
The BCS is the most authoritative source for assessing crime levels – it measures people's direct experiences of crime and is not affected by reporting or recording changes.

Violent crime

BCS figures suggest levels of violent crime are stable, levelling off after significant falls over the last five years. This includes a fall of 5% in violent crime and a fall of 6% for violent crimes involving an injury for the year to Dec 03.
The rise in recorded violence is still considered due to the continuing effect of changes to police recording practices.
The majority of recorded violent crime involves no significant physical injury to the victim and about half of all violent offences did not involve any injury to the victim (48% for BCS and 50% for recorded violence against the person).

Other crime types

The level of vehicle crime has fallen. The BCS shows a fall of 3% for the year ending Dec 03.
BCS figures show that levels of domestic burglary are up 1% compared to the previous year but recorded crime figures show a fall of 11% in domestic burglary in Oct - Dec 03. The inconsistencies between the BCS and Recorded figures might be explained by a increase in attempted burglary being included in the BCS figures, which are less likely to be reported to the police.
Levels of worry about car crime, violent crime and burglary have fallen.
Recorded robbery has fallen 7%.

British Crime Survey (BCS)

Based on interviews that took place in the year to Dec 2003 there were just over 12m crimes.
In the year to Dec 03:
- domestic burglary rose 1%
- vehicle thefts fell 3%
- violence fell 5%.
From 1997 to the 2002/03 BCS crime has fallen 25%. During the same period burglary was down 39%, violence down 24% and vehicle thefts down 31%.
Crime measured by the BCS has fallen in every survey since the peak in 1995.