NCJ Number
224647
Date Published
2008
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A summary is presented of findings from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales from 2007-2008.
Abstract
Even though the British Crime Survey (BCS) and police recorded crime differ in their coverage of crime, they both show that overall crime has fallen in the last year, 2007-2008. All BCS crime has fallen by 10 percent and recorded crime by 9 percent compared with 2006-2007; and most crime types have shown decreases. Highlights of these findings include: (1) violent crime down 12 percent (BCS); (2) violence against the person down 12 percent; (3) domestic burglary is stable (BCS); (4) domestic burglary down 4 percent; (5) sexual offenses down 7 percent; (6) vandalism down 10 percent (BCS); and (7) risk of being a victim of crime down from 24 percent to 22 percent (BCS). The only increase was seen with drug offenses up 18 percent under police recorded crime. Crime statistics provide information on the levels of crime in England and Wales and are used to help develop policy. They also provide trends in crime, measures for Home Office targets, and information to inform public debate about crime. This summary presents the latest results from the BCS and crimes recorded by the police. Together they provide a more comprehensive picture of crime in England and Wales for the time period of 2007-2008.