Latest crime statistics

There are 2 types of crime statistics that you might hear about:

• Recorded Crime - This is crime reported to the police. These statistics provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes. They are an important indicator of police workload and can be used for analysing local crime patterns
• British Crime Survey (BCS) - These statistics are based on interviews and can provide a better reflection of the true extent of crime. For the crime types it covers, the BCS can provide a better reflection of the true extent of crime because it includes crimes that are not reported to the police. The BCS count also gives a better indication of trends in crime over time because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police and in police recording practices.

England and Wales

Official crime statistics can be found on the Home Office website, in the Research Development and Statistics section.

Crime in England and Wales 2006/2007 combines both of types of statistics in a single, annual, document.

Scotland

The Scottish Executive has published ‘Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2006/2007' which covers the crime and offences recorded and cleared up by the 8 Scottish police forces.

Northern Ireland

Recorded Crime 2006/07 forms part of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) . This is the Annual Statistical Report for 2006/07.