Crime & communities
Tackling fear of crime & disorder in the community
Crime and Disorder Statistics
Each quarter the Home Office publishes the results of the British Crime Survey (BCS). The 2003/04 survey (published in July 2004) shows that overall crime has fallen by 5%, although there has been an increase of one per cent in the number of crimes recorded by the police in 2003/04 compared with 2002/03.
Since 1995 BCS crime has fallen by 39%, with vehicle crime and burglary falling by roughly half and violent crime falling by over a third during this period.
The risk of becoming a victim of crime has fallen from 40% in 1995 to 26% according to BCS interviews in 2003/04, the lowest level recorded since the BCS began in 1981. More information about the BCS can be found on www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/bcs1.html. This will also take you to the latest published survey.
Property crime accounts for the majority (78%) of both BCS and recorded crime.
Violent crime accounts for 23% of all BCS crime and 19% of all police recorded crime.
According to the BCS, the proportion of people believing that crime has increased over the past two years, both in their local area and in the country as a whole, has fallen compared with the previous year.
Levels of worry about the main crime types have fallen compared with the previous year, as has the level of perceived anti-social behaviour.
Levels of confidence in the criminal justice system (CJS) have improved in most areas compared with the previous year.
Out of all the victims of vandalism and common assault (which includes violence with minimal or no injury), 29% were victimised more than once according to 2003/04 BCS interviews, compared with just 7% of victims of theft from the person.
The 2003/04 survey also recorded figures for anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour is not easily definable as the BCS notes. A definition which is widely used by Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships is "[ASB is] Acting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as (the defendant)". This definition is taken from the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
Anti-social behaviour can include a whole range of problems. The British Crime Survey for 2003/04 reported the following percentages of adults as saying that the following were a very or fairly big problem in their area:
Noisy neighbours or loud parties | 9% |
Teenagers hanging around on the streets | 27% |
Rubbish or litter lying around | 29% |
Vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage to property | 28% |
People using or dealing drugs | 25% |
People being drunk or rowdy in public places | 19% |
Abandoned or burnt out cars | 15% |
Questions
What do you see as the major crime and disorder issues in your area?
Are any of the problems of anti-social behaviour found in your area?
What effects do these problems have on the area?
What effects do these problems have on you as individuals and as a community?
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Last update: Wednesday, October 18, 2006