Stats show crime falling, police recording becoming more accurate

CC Farrar said:

“We are encouraged to see crime continuing to fall, police recording of crime becoming more accurate and victims more willing to report crime to the police. The Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) shows that crime has dropped by seven per cent over the last year to its lowest level since the survey began in 1981. At the same time police recorded crime has risen by two percent across all crime categories, highlighting the commitment across the service to improved crime recording.

“A significant contributory factor to the increase in recorded crime is the 30 per cent increase in records of violence without injury, and 37 per cent rise in records of sexual offences. NPCC analysis with police forces suggests that increases are as a result of improved recording practices and greater victim confidence to report and do not indicate a marked rise in offending. For violent crime, there appears to be less than a one per cent increase in calls to the police for service over the last year but a 23 per cent rise in police recording. In addition to improved confidence, a significant number of reports of rape or sexual offences relate to offences committed over a year ago. The reporting of high profile cases such as  Operation Yewtree is contributing to this rise.

“The crime reported in this survey only accounts for 22 per cent of incoming calls to the police. A huge amount of work goes into areas such as complex public protection issues, cyber-crime and counter-terrorism - where the offences and their outcomes are not so easily recorded. Chief constables across the country are looking at ways to ensure that we can continue to meet the ever-changing demand that the service faces.”

ENDS

Further information:

• The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Performance Management Coordination Committee analysed data from police forces between 2013/14 and 2014/15 on calls for service for violent crime as well as recorded violent crime against the person.
• The analysis showed that calls for service relating to violent crime rose by 1 per cent while recorded crime for violence against the person increased by 23 per cent.
• For a significant proportion of recorded rapes (43 per cent) there was a delay between when the offence was committed and when it was actually reported to police. Of the rapes involving a victim under the age of 16 recorded in 2014/15, 65 per cent of these offences were committed prior to the year of reporting and of those 60 per cent were committed at least a year before they were recorded by police.