The available data relate to sexual offences recorded by the police and are given in the tables.
Police force area 1997 Avon and Somerset 1,000 Bedfordshire 344 Cambridgeshire 390 Cheshire 728 Cleveland 253 Cumbria 229 Derbyshire 528 Devon and Cornwall 808 Dorset 396 Durham 341 Dyfed-Powys 337 Essex 740 Gloucestershire 240 Greater Manchester 1,634 Gwent 470 Hampshire 1,222 Hertfordshire 290 Humberside 758 Kent 770 Lancashire 928 Leicestershire 585 Lincolnshire 329 London, City of 46 Merseyside 906 Metropolitan Police 7,558 Norfolk 487 Northamptonshire 332 Northumbria 562 North Wales 480 North Yorkshire 262 Nottinghamshire 882 South Wales 587 South Yorkshire 611 Staffordshire 544 Suffolk 400 Surrey 499 Sussex 766 Thames Valley 731 Warwickshire 223 West Mercia 751 West Midlands 1,226 West Yorkshire 1,637 Wiltshire 355 Total 33,165
Police force area 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 Avon and Somerset 821 759 930 1,095 Bedfordshire 344 402 382 354 Cambridgeshire 431 418 464 560 Cheshire 625 379 423 384 Cleveland 369 414 354 442 Cumbria 200 224 168 199 Derbyshire 556 546 527 651 Devon and Cornwall 876 936 911 960 Dorset 314 306 327 434 Durham 243 251 238 333 Dyfed-Powys 317 292 304 292 Essex 877 975 852 887 Gloucestershire 344 323 348 267 Greater Manchester 2,142 2,258 2,154 2,466 Gwent 452 503 440 437 Hampshire 1,066 1,384 1,455 1,453 Hertfordshire 321 348 397 392 Humberside 743 717 694 816 Kent 924 872 974 1,003 Lancashire 879 754 936 992 Leicestershire 764 800 651 753 Lincolnshire 393 325 281 414 London, City of 31 21 10 33 Merseyside 1,019 935 982 1,018 Metropolitan Police 8,102 9,189 8,759 9,924 Norfolk 508 415 364 509 Northamptonshire 306 287 271 340 Northumbria 943 983 891 1,030 North Wales 334 373 406 466 North Yorkshire 297 294 289 346 Nottinghamshire 949 987 985 1,046 South Wales 715 581 552 541 South Yorkshire 654 645 624 605 Staffordshire 566 760 818 924 Suffolk 405 389 421 486 Surrey 579 505 653 547 Sussex 911 1,003 1,029 1,034 Thames Valley 879 1,002 1,010 1,099 Warwickshire 194 169 181 199 West Mercia 618 585 537 806 West Midlands 1,985 2,319 2,521 2,985 West Yorkshire 1,774 1,806 1,464 1,532 Wiltshire 404 358 334 378 Total 36,174 37,792 37,311 41,432 Note: 1. The introduction of the revised counting rules in April 1998 expanded offence coverage. These data are not comparable with earlier years
Police force area 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Avon and Somerset 1,570 1,516 1,914 1,533 Bedfordshire 465 516 622 688 Cambridgeshire 694 736 766 799 Cheshire 537 696 927 979 Cleveland 519 767 805 725 Cumbria 214 293 337 358 Derbyshire 882 920 1,160 1,117 Devon and Cornwall 1,149 1,336 1,564 1,527 Dorset 498 579 689 802 Durham 341 362 397 694 Dyfed-Powys 274 434 503 440 Essex 1,165 1,296 1,347 1,371 Gloucestershire 409 403 539 670 Greater Manchester 2,819 3,200 3,470 3,319 Gwent 486 404 560 548 Hampshire 1,810 2,034 2,658 2,701 Hertfordshire 553 644 971 983 Humberside 1,095 1,269 1,403 1,413 Kent 947 1,220 1,766 1,900 Lancashire 1,069 1,337 1,632 1,505 Leicestershire 960 1,000 1,372 1,361 Lincolnshire 583 636 816 703 London, City of 34 30 50 55 Merseyside 1,277 1,284 1,442 1,390 Metropolitan Police 10,410 10,200 10,860 10,293 Norfolk 676 774 889 1,474 Northamptonshire 608 544 642 633 Northumbria 1,371 1,360 1,496 1,431 North Wales 555 569 666 628 North Yorkshire 448 502 557 637 Nottinghamshire 978 1,055 1,294 1,343 South Wales 717 714 866 1,054 South Yorkshire 851 938 1,382 1,543 Staffordshire 963 1,025 1,323 1,306 Suffolk 588 641 620 664 Surrey 598 585 820 765 Sussex 1,148 1,201 1,801 1,655 Thames Valley 1,469 1,618 2,096 2,123 Warwickshire 277 349 435 382 West Mercia 923 949 1,139 1,014 West Midlands 3,033 3,207 3,470 3,483 West Yorkshire 2,106 2,343 2,351 2,522 Wiltshire 558 584 525 580 Total 48,627 52,070 60,942 61,111 1 The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced in May 2004 altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences, in particular, it redefined indecent exposure as a sexual offence. Note: 1. Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These data are not comparable with earlier years.