United Kingdom - Victims of crime

http://www.poverty.org.uk/87/index.shtml

Note that all the statistics below are from the British Crime Survey and the trends shown are rather different than those from crimes recorded by the police.  In correspondence with the then Shadow Home Secretary, Sir Michael Scholar, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority stated that police-recorded statistics between the late 1990s and now are likely to "mislead the public" due to changes in recording practices in 2002/03.  By contrast, the British Crime Survey is not affected by such changes in practice.

Burglary

·         There were around an estimated 750,000 burglaries in 2010/11.  This is similar to the level of five years previously but much less than the level of a decade ago.

·         Young households, lone parents and the unemployed are all more than twice as likely to be burgled as the average household.

·         The burglary rate in Yorkshire & the Humber and in London is twice as high as that in Wales and the South of England (excluding London).

Violent crime

·         There were around an estimated 1.2 million violent incidents which resulted in injury in 2010/11.  This is similar to the level of five years previously but much less than the level of a decade ago.

·         Young households and the unemployed are both more than twice as likely to be the victims of violence as the average person.  Lone parents and private renters are also at high risk.

·         There is a reasonably similar incidence of violence crimes in all regions.

Worries about crime

·         The proportion of adults who are very worried about being the victim of crime is much lower than a decade ago: for burglary, 10% compared with 19% a decade ago; for violent crime, 13% compared with 24% a decade ago.

·         This fall in the level of worry about crime is in line with the fall in the estimated prevalence of crime.

·         Adults on low incomes, in bad health, living in inner city areas and social renting are all more likely to be very worried about being a victim of crime than adults on average.

Perceptions about crime

·         Throughout the last decade, many more adults think that their local crime rate has been increasing than think that it has been decreasing.  For example, in 2010, 30% thought it had been increasing compared to 15% who thought it had been decreasing.

·         So, what people generally perceive the trends in crime as being (i.e. rising) is very different than the actual trends in crime (i.e. falling) as well as their worries about being a victim of crime (also falling).