Home Of fice Statistical Bulletin Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/04 The Research, Development and Statistics Directorate exists Crime in England and Wales 2003/2004 to improve policy making, decision taking and practice Tricia Dodd, Sian Nicholas, David Povey, Alison Walker in support of the Home Office purpose and aims, to provide the public and Parliament with information necessary for informed debate and to publish information for future use. Statistical Bulletins are produced by the Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. For further copies contact: Communication & Development Unit Room 264, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AT. Crime in Tel: 020 7273 2084 England Fax 020 7222 0211 [email protected] and W ales 2003/2004 © Crown Copyright 2004 ISSN 1358-510X July 2004 10/04 Jon Simmons and T ricia Dodd PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/067b80/ Crime in England and Wales 2003/2004 Tricia Dodd, Sian Nicholas, David Povey, Alison Walker ISSN 1358-510X July 2004 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/067b80/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication has been prepared by the Measuring and Analysing Crime Programme within RDS (Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group). This volume is the collective work of a number of staff in addition to the separate chapter authors: Jonathan Allen, Olivia Christophersen, Judith Cotton, Matthew Hunt, Jason Lal, Maria Tortoriello. Special thanks are due to Heather Salisbury and Paul Taylor who co-ordinated the production of the volume. Thank you to other colleagues in the Home Office who have provided advice. We also very much appreciated the support and comments given to us during the preparation of the report by Jon Simmons (Assistant Director, RDS) and Paul Wiles (Director of RDS). 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. We would also like to thank those who assisted in preparing the report for publication in Communications Development Unit (CDU). The views expressed in this report are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the Home Office (nor do they reflect Government Policy). Copies of this and recorded crime and BCS publications are available from the Information and Publications Group, Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, Communications Development Unit, Room 264, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AT (Tel. 020 7273 2084). Or by email: [email protected] RDS Internet site http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm Patterns of crime webpage http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/patterns1.html For further information about crime statistics please email the Measuring and Analysing Crime Programme within RDS (Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group), at [email protected], or write to the Measuring and Analysing Crime Programme at Room 839 at the above address. PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/067b80/ Contents Page Contents List of figures and tables Chapter 1 Summary............................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Levels and trends ................................................................................................ 7 Andrea Finney and Jacqueline Toofail 2.1 Summary.......................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Levels of crime................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Trends in crime .............................................................................................. 12 2.4 Repeat victimisation....................................................................................... 15 2.5 Public perceptions.......................................................................................... 16 Chapter 3 Reporting and recording crime ........................................................................ 31 Katharine Thorpe and Martin Wood 3.1 Summary........................................................................................................ 31 3.2 The British Crime Survey and police measures of crime............................... 32 3.3 Reporting crime.............................................................................................. 34 3.4 Recording crime............................................................................................. 38 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/067b80/ Crime in England and Wales 2003/04 Chapter 4 Property crime.................................................................................................... 45 Laura Ringham and Martin Wood 4.1 Summary........................................................................................................ 45 4.2 Burglary.......................................................................................................... 47 4.3 Vehicle-related theft....................................................................................... 50 4.4 Theft and handling stolen goods.................................................................... 53 4.5 Criminal damage (vandalism) and arson....................................................... 55 4.6 Fraud and forgery .......................................................................................... 56 4.7 Drug and other offences ................................................................................ 57 Chapter 5 Violent crime ...................................................................................................... 67 Anna Upson, David Povey and Alan Gray 5.1 Summary........................................................................................................ 67 5.2 Extent and trends........................................................................................... 68 5.3 Types of violent crime.................................................................................... 70 5.4 Seriousness and injury .................................................................................. 75 5.5 Risks of becoming a victim of violent crime................................................... 76 5.6 Homicide ........................................................................................................ 78 5.7 Sexual offences ............................................................................................. 78 5.8 Robbery ......................................................................................................... 79 5.9 Firearm offences............................................................................................ 79 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/067b80/ Contents Chapter 6 Patterns of crime................................................................................................ 87 Louise Moore and Helen Yeo 6.1 Summary........................................................................................................ 87 6.2 Geographical variations ................................................................................. 87 6.3 Variation across rural and urban England and Wales ................................... 94 6.4 Geographical concentration of crime............................................................. 94 Chapter 7 Detection of crime............................................................................................ 103 Nerys Thomas and Andy Feist 7.1 Summary...................................................................................................... 103 7.2 Trends over time.......................................................................................... 104 7.3 Detection rates and investigative performance ........................................... 112 7.4 Detection method......................................................................................... 113 7.5 Basic Command Units ................................................................................. 116 7.6 Detections per officer................................................................................... 116 Appendix 1 Glossary............................................................................................................. 127 Appendix 2 Recorded crime list ............................................................................................ 141 Appendix 3 Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 147 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/067b80/ List of figures and tables Chapter 1 Figure 1.1 Percentage changes in the main crime types according to BCS interviews in 2003/04 compared with 2002/03 Figure 1.2 Percentage changes in recorded crime, 2002/03 to 2003/04 Figure 1.3 Trends in BCS crime, 1995 to 2003/04 (indexed 1995) Chapter 2 Figure 2.1 Percentage changes in the main crime types according to BCS interviews in 2003/04 compared with 2002/03 Figure 2.2 Percentage changes in recorded crime, 2002/03 to 2003/04 Figure 2.3 Police recorded crime and BCS crime by type of crime, 2003/04 Figure 2.4 Trends in BCS crime, 1995 to 2003/04 (indexed 1995) Figure 2.5 Trends in all BCS crime, 1981 to 2003/04 Figure 2.6 Trends in recorded crime, 1981