Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

The 2000 British Crime Survey (BCS) was conducted early in 2000 and is the eighth sweep of the survey since it was first conducted in 1982.

Title: The 2000 British Crime Survey (England & Wales)
Authors: Chris Kershaw, Tracey Budd, Graham Kinshott, Joanna Mattinson, Pat Mayhew, Andy Myhill
Series: Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/00
Publication date: October 2000
Number of pages: 153

A nationally representative sample of 19,411 people aged 16 and above were interviewed between January and July 2000 and asked about their experience of crime. The BCS is thought to give an indication of the true extent of crime as it records crimes which are not reported to the police.

Main points:

• Burglary was down 21% from 1997 to its lowest level since 1991

• The number of vehicles stolen was down by 11% from its 1997 level

• Theft from vehicles was down by 16%

• Violence was down by 4%, including wounding which was down by 11%

• The proportion of people who were victims of some type of crime once or more during 1999 fell from 34% to 30% to its lowest overall victimisation rate since 1983.

The few exceptions to the downward trend, however, were robbery (up 14%) and theft from the person, which saw a 4% increase.

There was a 19% decrease in acquaintance violence but a 29% increase in stranger violence. Muggings and domestic violence frequencies were unchanged.

The survey shows that people continued to overestimate the problem of crime, despite the overall fall in crime. One third of householders believed the national crime rate had increased "a lot" between 1997 and 1999 - a perception at odds with both the BCS and the offences recorded by the police.

Getting a copy

Download the British Crime Survey 2000 PDF, 660K from the Home Office website.