October 18,  2007: Recorded Crime Still Falling

Crime in England and Wales remains stable according to the British Crime Survey (BCS) and has fallen by 7% according to the police recorded crime statistics, according to a quarterly Home Office update which has just been released. These statistics are not always faithfully reported in the media.

Differences between the BCS totals and the recorded crime statistics are the result of different statistical gathering methods. BSC statistics are viewed by many criminologists as more reliable, because of the more consistent methodology used. Both sets of statistics are listed here.

In the BCS numbers provided, rates of violent crime held steady in the year to June 2006. Numbers provided by police showed 21,000 fewer violent crimes recorded between April and June 2007 than in the same time period in 2006.

Gun-related offences dropped 6% from January to June 2007, according to provisional statistics. (Gun crime statistics are provisional and subject to revision; final figures will be released in January.) That reflects 639 fewer firearms offences, bringing the total to 9,712. Serious injuries caused by guns dropped 11%, but fatal shootings increased from 53 in 2006 to 56 in 2007.

Other BCS statistics include:

• overall levels of crime hold steady at 11 million so far this year
• no change in rates of domestic burglary, vehicle-related thefts, personal thefts, or vandalism
• personal acquisitive crimes decreased by 10%
• risk of crime stable at 24%

By comparison, the recorded crime quarterly update to June 2007 (compared to the same period in 2006):

• total recorded crimes have fallen 7%
• domestic burglary down 3%
• vehicle-based crime down 12%
• violent crime down 8%
• robbery dropped 9%
• drug offences increased 14%

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