July 15, 2010: Latest National Crime Figures
The latest National Statistics on crime in England and Wales are released today. They are based on interviews from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and crimes recorded by the police in the financial year 2009/10.
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.
The key points from the latest figures are:
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Overall, there were an estimated 9.6 million crimes as measured by the BCS in 2009/10, a fall of 9% compared with the previous year’s survey (10.5 million crimes).
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There were 4.3 million crimes recorded by the police in 2009/10, an 8% decrease compared with 2008/09 (4.7 million crimes), with decreases in most crime types.
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Both sources are consistent in showing marked falls in vehicle crime (BCS vehicle related theft down 17% and police recorded vehicle crime down by 16% compared with the previous year).
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While the 9% fall in domestic burglary from the 2009/10 BCS was not statistically significant (compared with the 2008/09 survey) it is broadly in line with the 6% reduction recorded by the police between 2009/10 and the previous year.
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There was a 28% fall in BCS theft from the person between the 2008/09 and 2009/10 surveys. However, this follows a rise of 25% the previous year and the estimated number of thefts from the person is now at a similar level to that seen in recent years. In contrast, police recorded theft from the person showed a 3% increase between 2008/09 and 2009/10, this being the first increase since 2005/06.
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The apparent 1% fall in the level of violent crime between the 2008/09 and 2009/10 BCS was not statistically significant. Police recorded violence against the person fell by 4% between 2008/09 and 2009/10, with falls in both violence with injury (down 5%) and violence without injury (down 3%). Both BCS violence and police recorded violence against the person offences have shown a downward trend since 2006/07.
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The overall sanction detection rate was 27.8% in 2009/10, a slight fall from the 28.4% recorded last year. Overall, there were 1.2 million crimes solved by sanction detections in 2009/10.
The BCS estimates that the risk of becoming a victim of crime in 2009/10 was 21.5%, a fall from 23.3% in 2008/09. This figure is the lowest since the BCS started in 1981 (27.7%) and down from a peak of 39.7% in 1995.
Long-term trends show that BCS crime rose steadily from 1981 before peaking in the mid-1990s. BCS crime then fell sharply until 2004/05 before levelling off until subsequent falls between the 2006/07 and 2007/08 surveys and in the latest year.
The statistics on violent and sexual crime are also available.