Crime in England and Wales 2004/2005
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Home Office Statistical Bulletin Crime in England and Wales 2004/2005 The Research, Development and Statistics Directorate exists Sian Nicholas, David Povey, Alison Walker and to improve policy making, Chris Ke rshaw decision taking and practice in support of the Home Office purpose and aims, to provide the public and Parliament with i n f o rmation necessar y for i n f o rmed debate and to publish information for future use. Statistical Bulletins are p roduced by the Researc h , Development and Statistics Directorate. For further copies contact: w w w. h o m e o ff i c e . g o v. u k / rd s © Crown Copyright 2005 July 2005 11/05 ISSN 1358-510X Crime in England and Wales 2004/2005 Sian Nicholas, David Povey, Alison Walker and Chris Ke rshaw ISSN 1358-510X July 2005 Acknowledgements This publication and the accompanying web tables have been prepared by staff in the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics area of the Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group. The staff involved are members of the British Crime Survey team, the Police Statistics Section, the Police Effectiveness Programme and the Crime Patterns Analysis Team. We thank the individual chapter authors and are grateful for the additional support received from: Rachelle Hembury, Sarah Kirwan, Alison Patterson, Rachel Pinto, Matthew Scribbins, Celia Smith, Angela Wilson, Richard Woodward and Richard Laljie. Special thanks are due to Krista Jansson and Paul Taylor who coordinated the production of the volume. The editors also very much appreciated the support and comments given to us during the preparation of the report by Jon Simmons (Assistant Director, RDS). We are also grateful to Jo O’Shea, Mel Steer and Beverley Morgan from the RDS Regional and Welsh Government Office Teams who provided the regional factsheets to accompany this publication which are available on the web. We would like to thank staff at the Data Collection Group in the Home Office and the crime registrars and statistical staff in the police forces of England and Wales. Thanks also to all the staff involved in the work on the BCS at BMRB Social Research, the interviewers working on the BCS and the members of the public who kindly agreed to take part in the survey. Finally, we would also like to thank those colleagues in the Communications Development Unit (CDU) who assisted in preparing the report and accompanying material for publication. Copies of this and other Home Office statistical bulletins are available from the RDS (CRCSG) Internet site: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm For further information about the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime statistics, please e-mail [email protected] or write to Strategic Data Flows, RDS (CRCSG), 3rd Floor, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF. Contents Page Contents List of figures and tables Summary ...........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................7 1.1 Coverage......................................................................................................7 1.2 Structure of the report ...................................................................................8 1.3 Guide to tables and figures ...........................................................................9 Chapter 2 Extent and trends ...........................................................................................11 Hiren Bhimjiyani and Jonathan Allen 2.1 Summary....................................................................................................11 2.2 Extent of crime............................................................................................12 2.3 Trends in crime...........................................................................................16 2.4 Repeat victimisation....................................................................................19 2.5 Public perceptions ......................................................................................21 Chapter 3 Reporting and recording crime......................................................................35 Katharine Thorpe and Chandni Ruparel 3.1 Summary....................................................................................................35 3.2 The British Crime Survey and police measures of crime..............................36 Crime in England and Wales 2004/05 3.3 Reporting crime ..........................................................................................37 3.4 Recording crime..........................................................................................42 Chapter 4 Property crime ................................................................................................49 Krista Jansson, Hannah Roy and Richard Barrett 4.1 Summary....................................................................................................49 4.2 Burglary......................................................................................................51 4.3 Vehicle-related theft....................................................................................54 4.4 Thefts and handling stolen goods................................................................58 4.5 Criminal damage (vandalism) and arson .....................................................59 4.6 Fraud and forgery .......................................................................................61 4.7 Drug and other offences..............................................................................62 Chapter 5 Violent crime...................................................................................................71 Kathryn Coleman, Andrea Finney and Peter Kaiza 5.1 Summary....................................................................................................71 5.2 The British Crime Survey and Police measures of violent crime...................72 5.3 Extent and trends........................................................................................73 5.4 Types of violent crime .................................................................................77 5.5 Firearm offences.........................................................................................81 5.6 Victim-offender association .........................................................................82 5.7 Risks of becoming a victim of violent crime .................................................84 5.8 Influence of alcohol and drugs ....................................................................85 Contents Chapter 6 Patterns of crime ............................................................................................91 Anna Upson 6.1 Summary....................................................................................................91 6.2 Risk of victimisation by region .....................................................................92 6.3 Risk of victimisation by police force area .....................................................94 6.4 Victimisation in rural and urban areas .........................................................97 6.5 Geographical concentration of crime ...........................................................98 6.6 Worry about crime ....................................................................................101 6.7 Perceptions of anti-social behaviour..........................................................103 6.8 Confidence in the local police....................................................................103 Chapter 7 Detection of crime ........................................................................................115 Nerys Thomas and Andy Feist 7.1 Summary..................................................................................................115 7.2 Trends over time.......................................................................................117 7.3 Detection method......................................................................................124 7.4 Basic Command Units ..............................................................................126 7.5 Detections per officer ................................................................................126 Appendix 1 Glossary.........................................................................................................137 Appendix 2 Recorded crime list.........................................................................................155 Appendix 3 Bibliography ...................................................................................................163 Crime in England and Wales 2004/05 List of figures and tables Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Extent and trends Figure 2.1 Percentage changes in the main crime types according to BCS interviews in 2004/05 compared with 2003/04 Figure 2.2 Percentage changes in recorded crime, 2003/04 to 2004/05 Figure 2.3 BCS crime and police recorded crime by type of crime, 2004/05 Figure 2.4 Trends in BCS crime, 1995 to 2004/05 (indexed 1995) Figure 2.5 Trends in all BCS crime, 1981 to 2004/05 Figure 2.6 Trends in recorded crime, 1981 to 2004/05 Figure 2.7 Percentage change in BCS offences between 1995 and 2004/05 Figure 2.8 Proportion of victims who were victimised twice or more in the past 12 months, by offence type, 2004/05 BCS interviews Figure 2.9 Public perceptions