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Crime

Volume 468: debated on Thursday 29 November 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) level and (b) rate per 1,000 population in (i) England and (ii) each London borough was of (A) crime, (B) homicide, (C) violence against the person, (D) rape, (E) personal robbery, (F) robberies from businesses, (G) residential burglary, (H) non-residential burglary, (I) gun-related crime, (J) motor vehicle crime, (K) domestic crime and (L) racial crime in the most recent period for which figures are available. (166947)

Data for gun-related crime refer to the offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons) that have been recorded by the police. Data for 2005-06 is the most recently available and is given in Table A.

From the information collected centrally on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify recorded cases of domestic crime. Such offences are not specifically defined by law and details of the individual circumstances of offences are not collected. Data for the remaining crime types requested are given for 2006-07 in Table B.

Table 1: Firearm offences (excluding air weapon offences) recorded1 and the rate per 1,000 population—2005-06

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Total London2

3,884

0.52

Total England

10,851

0.22

1 Includes all offences involving firearms (excluding air weapons), where a weapon has been fired, used as a blunt instrument or used in a threat.

2 Includes the City of London police and the Metropolitan Police Service.

Table 2: Offences recorded and the rate per 1,000 population for specified offence groups and areas

Total recorded crime

Homicide1

Violence against the person

Rape

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Barking and Dagenham

21,384

129.98

9

0.05

5,150

31.30

68

0.41

Barnet

29,920

90.75

5

0.02

5,512

16.72

67

0.20

Bexley

16,997

77.15

5

5

3,742

16.99

35

0.16

Brent

30,474

112.83

4

0.01

6,216

23.02

93

0.34

Bromley

28,424

94.14

4

0.01

5,697

18.87

46

0.15

Camden

42,435

187.68

7

0.03

6,586

29.13

70

0.31

City of Westminster

66,267

271.18

4

0.02

8,413

34.43

131

0.54

Croydon

31,510

91.95

3

0.01

6,741

19.67

97

0.28

Ealing

36,734

121.72

9

0.03

7,641

25.32

56

0.19

Enfield

27,058

96.45

5

5

5,342

19.04

66

0.24

Greenwich

29,829

130.75

3

0.01

7,486

32.81

107

0.47

Hackney

31,160

149.99

11

0.05

7,148

34.41

109

0.52

Hammersmith and Fulham

25,334

140.86

4

0.02

5,054

28.10

62

0.34

Haringey

30,595

136.29

5

0.02

5,651

25.17

76

0.34

Harrow

15,837

74.02

5

5

2,870

13.41

45

0.21

Havering

19,997

88.40

5

0.02

3,639

16.09

38

0.17

Hillingdon

28,144

111.50

7

0.03

5,911

23.42

35

0.14

Hounslow

24,485

115.22

4

0.02

5,502

25.89

78

0.37

Islington

35,248

192.99

6

0.03

6,289

34.43

89

0.49

Kensington and Chelsea

24,328

123.98

5

5

3,597

18.33

49

0.25

Kingston upon Thames

13,105

85.64

5

5

3,003

19.62

28

0.18

Lambeth

38,868

144.42

15

0.06

8,344

31.00

127

0.47

Lewisham

32,150

129.92

4

0.02

8,062

32.58

106

0.43

Merton

16,078

82.56

5

0.03

3,361

17.26

42

0.22

Newham

35,597

144.57

14

0.06

7,578

30.78

96

0.39

Redbridge

24,646

98.00

5

5

4,323

17.19

52

0.21

Richmond upon Thames

13,408

71.98

5

5

2,122

11.39

24

0.13

Southwark

39,713

154.12

10

0.04

8,435

32.74

118

0.46

Sutton

15,408

86.71

5

5

2,989

16.82

33

0.19

Tower Hamlets

32,627

153.05

3

0.01

7,727

36.25

103

0.48

Waltham Forest

28,927

129.10

4

0.02

6,052

27.01

74

0.33

Wandsworth

30,039

106.75

9

0.03

5,647

20.07

81

0.29

Total

916,726

122.09

5

5

181,830

24.22

2,301

0.31

Total London4

929,752

123.67

5

5

183,321

24.39

2,312

0.31

Total England

5,093,395

101.00

719

0.01

976,638

19.37

13,135

0.26

Robbery of personal propertyRobbery of business propertyBurglary in a dwelling

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Barking and Dagenham

704

4.28

101

0.61

1,196

7.27

Barnet

935

2.84

128

0.39

2,467

7.48

Bexley

388

1.76

60

0.27

1,105

5.02

Brent

2,036

7.54

108

0.40

2,289

8.48

Bromley

990

3.28

125

0.41

1,996

6.61

Camden

1,516

6.70

81

0.36

2,515

11.12

City of Westminster

1,697

6.94

59

0.24

1,448

5.93

Croydon

1,653

4.82

176

0.51

2,099

6.12

Ealing

2,280

7.56

79

0.26

2,693

8.92

Enfield

1,385

4.94

122

0.43

2,390

8.52

Greenwich

1,382

6.06

97

0.43

1,929

8.46

Hackney

1,570

7.56

115

0.55

1,841

8.86

Hammersmith and Fulham

1,108

6.16

64

0.36

2,118

11.78

Haringey

1,804

8.04

142

0.63

2,709

12.07

Harrow

728

3.40

41

0.19

1,334

6.23

Havering

469

2.07

80

0.35

1,175

5.19

Hillingdon

874

3.46

100

0.40

1,874

7.42

Hounslow

822

3.87

47

0.22

1,671

7.86

Islington

1,381

7.56

107

0.59

2,450

13.41

Kensington and Chelsea

764

3.89

23

0.12

1,385

7.06

Kingston upon Thames

281

1.84

21

0.14

515

3.37

Lambeth

2,674

9.94

237

0.88

2,774

10.31

Lewisham

2,477

10.01

158

0.64

2,492

10.07

Merton

549

2.82

49

0.25

997

5.12

Newham

2,273

9.23

247

1.00

2,155

8.75

Redbridge

1,206

4.80

147

0.58

2,107

8.38

Richmond upon Thames

387

2.08

21

0.11

1,053

5.65

Southwark

2,477

9.61

218

0.85

2,373

9.21

Sutton

374

2.10

39

0.22

657

3.70

Tower Hamlets

1,829

8.58

79

0.37

1,638

7.68

Waltham Forest

1,802

8.04

152

0.68

1,854

8.27

Wandsworth

1,636

5.81

88

0.31

2,634

9.36

Total

42,451

5.65

3,311

0.44

59,933

7.98

Total London4

42,497

5.65

3,315

0.44

59,970

7.98

Total England

88,681

1.76

9,382

0.19

281,704

5.59

Burglary in a building other than a dwellingOffences against vehicles2All racially/religiously aggravated crime3

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Offences recorded

Rate per 1,000 population

Barking and Dagenham

921

5.60

3,091

18.79

368

2.24

Barnet

1,437

4.36

5,468

16.59

287

0.87

Bexley

971

4.41

2,196

9.97

283

1.28

Brent

1,041

3.85

4,642

17.19

185

0.68

Bromley

1,592

5.27

4,433

14.68

241

0.80

Camden

1,807

7.99

5,553

24.56

391

1.73

City of Westminster

2,353

9.63

4,336

17.74

439

1.80

Croydon

1,365

3.98

4,366

12.74

191

0.56

Ealing

1,264

4,19

6,820

22.60

292

0.97

Enfield

1,248

4.45

4,357

15.53

200

0.71

Greenwich

1,312

5.75

3,786

16.59

435

1.91

Hackney

846

4.07

4,373

21.05

238

1.15

Hammersmith and Fulham

614

3.41

4,192

23.31

200

1.11

Haringey

850

3.79

4,499

20.04

158

0.70

Harrow

625

2.92

2,707

12.65

154

0.72

Havering

1,336

5.91

3,799

16.79

160

0.71

Hillingdon

1,308

5.18

5,416

21.46

362

1.43

Hounslow

923

4.34

4,197

19.75

289

1.36

Islington

1,278

7.00

4,886

26.75

305

1.67

Kensington and Chelsea

797

4.06

3,171

16.16

189

0.96

Kingston upon Thames

523

3.42

1,231

8.04

149

0.97

Lambeth

911

3.39

4,310

16.01

264

0.98

Lewisham

1,087

4.39

3,962

16.01

384

1.55

Merton

831

4.27

2,156

11.07

139

0.71

Newham

1,216

4.94

6,561

26.65

246

1.00

Redbridge

946

3.76

4,789

19.04

175

0.70

Richmond upon Thames

1,032

5.54

2,193

11.77

77

0.41

Southwark

1,714

6.65

5,050

19.60

287

1.11

Sutton

794

4.47

2,405

13.53

155

0.87

Tower Hamlets

1,252

5.87

4,334

20.33

537

2.52

Waltham Forest

1,262

5.63

5,290

23.61

218

0.97

Wandsworth

1,309

4.65

4,361

15.50

189

0.67

Total

36,765

4.90

132,930

17.70

8,187

1.09

Total London4

37,160

4.94

133,419

17.75

8,290

1.10

Total England

312,625

6.20

719,031

14.26

37,157

0.74

1 includes offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide.

2 includes offences of aggravated vehicle taking, theft of or from vehicle and interfering with a motor vehicle.

3 includes racially/religiously aggravated offences of less serious wounding, harassment, assault without injury, criminal damage to a dwelling, criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling, criminal damage to a vehicle and other criminal damage.

4 includes the City of London police and the Metropolitan Police Service.

5 in accordance with guidance from the Office for National Statistics, values less than 3 have been suppressed in order to protect confidentiality. Therefore total values cannot be calculated.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded crimes there were per police officer in (a) England, (b) London and (c) each London borough in each year since 1997. (166948)

The available information is given in the tables. Information for London boroughs is not available centrally prior to 2002-03.

Table 1: Recorded offences per police officer (FTE) 1997

Number

Total London1, 2

29

Total England2

37

1. includes the City of London police and the Metropolitan Police service (also includes those officers who work in central services and Heathrow). 2. Total police officer strength figures are based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. These figures exclude those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Table 2: Recorded offences per police officer (FTE) 1998-99 to 2001-021,2

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

Total London3, 4

35

39

39

40

Total England4

41

44

42

44

1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998/99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997. 2. The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 3. Includes the City of London police and the Metropolitan Police Service (also includes those officers who work in Central Services and Heathrow Airport). 4. Total police officer strength figures are based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. These figures exclude those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Table 3 Recorded offences per police officer (FTE) 2002-03 to 2006-071

London borough2

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

Barking and Dagenham

57

58

51

52

50

Barnet

66

67

68

63

54

Bexley

63

60

49

55

46

Brent

54

52

52

53

45

Bromley

73

67

63

64

58

Camden

75

64

53

49

52

City of Westminster

55

48

49

46

42

Croydon

62

56

51

50

46

Ealing

62

54

53

55

54

Enfield

61

56

49

49

46

Greenwich

52

54

52

51

47

Hackney

58

51

46

45

42

Hammersmith and Fulham

59

55

52

47

45

Haringey

62

54

52

49

44

Harrow

65

55

53

50

45

Havering

63

65

56

57

52

Hillingdon

64

61

56

56

57

Hounslow

70

64

55

54

47

Islington

63

60

56

54

52

Kensington and Chelsea

60

52

48

43

43

Kingston upon Thames

53

59

53

49

45

Lambeth

56

53

47

42

41

Lewisham

50

50

54

51

52

Merton

59

55

49

49

43

Newham

59

52

47

50

47

Redbridge

73

65

57

52

53

Richmond upon Thames

59

54

53

51

44

Southwark

55

53

49

47

47

Sutton

56

58

58

52

50

Tower Hamlets

60

52

48

44

43

Waltham Forest

66

58

54

54

53

Wandsworth

65

55

54

50

50

Total3

61

56

52

50

48

Total London4, 5

38

35

32

32

29

Total England5

45

44

40

40

38

1. The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. 2. Police officer strength figures are only available by borough from 2002-03. These figures are based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number and include those officers on career breaks and maternity/paternity leave. 3. Total figures for all London boroughs exclude the crimes recorded and the police officers who work at Heathrow Airport. Officers who work in Central Services (headquarters) have also been excluded from the figures. 4. Includes the City of London police and the Metropolitan Police Service (also includes those officers who work in central Services and Heathrow Airport). 5. The total police officer strength figures for London and England exclude those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded instances of (a) rape and (b) domestic violence there were in each year since 1997 in England and Wales, broken down by police force area; and what the clear-up rates of such crimes were in each year in each area. (166976)

From the information collected centrally on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify recorded cases of domestic violence. Such offences are not specifically defined by law and details of the individual circumstances of offences are not collected.

Data for the number of recorded instances of rape and the clear-up/detection rate for these crimes is available for the 1997 calendar year and from 1998-99 in financial years. This followed a revision to the counting rules for recorded crime and the expanded coverage which came into effect on 1 April 1998. The figures were also affected by the revised detections guidance issued in April 1999 which formalised detection procedures, placing a greater emphasis on the evidential basis on which detections can be claimed.

The figures were also affected by the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002, which required the police to record a crime unless there was “no credible evidence to the contrary”. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 in May 2004 also altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences, including rape. All of these changes mean that detection rates are not comparable over these time periods.

The Home Office carried out research published in July 2007 which found that the reduction in detection rates was likely to be largely due to changes in recording practices resulting from the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard, counting rules and detections guidance (‘Investigating and detecting recorded offences of rape’, Home Office Online Report 18/07).

New performance management arrangements have been introduced for the police and CPS on the investigation and prosecution of rape. The Home Office and Association of Chief Police Officers are also providing operational support to police forces on the implementation of recommendations from ‘Without Consent’, the rape inspection published in January 2007.

Offences recorded by the police and detection rates1 for rape offences by police force area

1997

1998-992

1999-20003

2000-01

2001-02

Police force area

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Avon and Somerset

219

86

175

74

181

62

199

43

323

27

Bedfordshire

81

70

66

56

96

43

85

34

92

25

Cambridgeshire

73

79

84

62

105

56

106

50

156

46

Cheshire

101

100

108

98

62

87

80

86

74

81

Cleveland

37

89

56

91

51

73

37

59

54

65

Cumbria

33

97

43

93

34

91

37

70

47

74

Derbyshire

75

93

108

73

109

52

107

38

120

39

Devon and Cornwall

164

92

178

89

165

96

184

77

181

49

Dorset

68

94

55

78

66

50

80

36

122

39

Durham

71

93

60

95

66

85

46

91

78

n/a

Dyfed-Powys

58

95

43

91

55

89

47

109

49

76

Essex

130

79

187

65

196

64

166

50

202

33

Gloucestershire

36

89

54

69

70

66

90

70

53

57

Greater Manchester

432

85

537

74

548

64

544

58

574

55

Gwent

98

100

91

91

106

92

87

98

106

93

Hampshire

199

79

180

99

249

65

274

58

303

53

Hertfordshire

68

88

51

96

68

78

86

66

87

62

Humberside

156

65

127

58

170

33

142

37

166

33

Kent

152

92

169

85

145

90

187

57

186

56

Lancashire

158

91

154

83

148

79

200

53

194

47

Leicestershire

97

72

152

43

150

37

147

37

159

n/a

Lincolnshire

54

124

65

82

63

87

75

67

111

50

London, City of

0

0

4

0

6

0

6

50

9

22

Merseyside

175

90

190

78

237

69

241

66

283

53

Metropolitan Police

1,741

58

1,993

32

2,270

28

2,189

24

2,492

27

Norfolk

73

68

99

94

89

37

114

35

120

36

Northamptonshire

56

96

60

82

44

95

60

70

97

64

Northumbria

125

85

275

68

249

61

227

50

290

43

North Wales

95

89

73

92

96

85

101

59

128

35

North Yorkshire

38

87

42

105

42

62

49

73

71

59

Nottinghamshire

154

83

163

55

237

46

247

51

251

36

South Wales

123

99

169

93

130

88

125

91

126

90

South Yorkshire

113

96

108

79

126

88

127

75

121

72

Staffordshire

104

86

114

68

184

39

197

38

210

35

Suffolk

82

74

89

73

84

29

100

36

116

30

Surrey

59

56

69

48

83

45

126

28

118

42

Sussex

124

80

197

55

215

47

261

34

235

35

Thames Valley

165

90

195

59

233

52

271

26

291

32

Warwickshire

29

79

29

79

20

55

25

52

30

30

West Mercia

116

91

103

87

92

64

106

56

173

44

West Midlands

264

77

396

68

513

59

565

53

608

45

West Yorkshire

361

90

437

83

480

76

376

71

439

55

Wiltshire

71

96

88

73

81

68

78

31

89

46

2002-0342003-042004-0552005-062006-07

Police force area

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Offences recorded

Detection rate

Avon and Somerset

429

22

482

21

471

18

310

22

430

20

Bedfordshire

121

29

147

21

163

23

195

23

149

15

Cambridgeshire

200

29

232

15

236

21

200

22

209

15

Cheshire

110

48

184

29

197

28

181

28

170

30

Cleveland

110

41

145

31

143

22

171

38

140

34

Cumbria

66

64

74

30

79

30

77

35

73

47

Derbyshire

198

35

233

33

273

31

282

30

284

21

Devon and Cornwall

275

30

329

19

388

26

400

18

395

19

Dorset

132

25

144

17

163

17

181

17

132

27

Durham

62

68

72

71

91

60

158

26

83

43

Dyfed-Powys

46

91

101

25

101

35

85

18

102

28

Essex

294

32

335

29

334

27

384

25

355

25

Gloucestershire

122

31

107

28

115

29

161

19

160

21

Greater Manchester

719

46

846

32

899

30

842

31

837

31

Gwent

148

80

82

78

112

52

126

40

145

36

Hampshire

358

41

462

34

616

26

656

21

662

19

Hertfordshire

169

50

161

50

184

38

211

41

199

28

Humberside

258

23

350

20

329

22

350

23

291

24

Kent

216

38

286

27

358

22

445

22

395

23

Lancashire

245

52

270

35

285

37

326

35

288

37

Leicestershire

257

26

250

28

308

23

307

19

298

20

Lincolnshire

137

40

163

28

178

31

187

24

155

24

London, City of

3

100

4

0

7

0

6

0

8

0

Merseyside

340

47

383

43

374

35

378

24

298

28

Metropolitan Police

2,728

29

2,571

33

2,446

25

2,398

36

2,304

34

Norfolk

185

24

204

18

190

21

230

23

165

24

Northamptonshire

176

53

163

37

127

32

159

33

162

25

Northumbria

341

36

338

30

344

25

359

29

345

33

North Wales

114

26

140

29

159

27

170

25

106

16

North Yorkshire

131

43

120

41

137

41

145

34

135

41

Nottinghamshire

239

34

303

27

254

36

265

27

255

31

South Wales

189

62

191

53

185

60

216

29

273

28

South Yorkshire

190

40

182

38

287

30

338

24

267

27

Staffordshire

251

40

248

32

306

30

292

26

285

24

Suffolk

148

30

172

26

180

21

207

25

175

20

Surrey

129

32

144

35

129

26

139

32

138

29

Sussex

348

26

305

24

458

15

424

21

440

15

Thames Valley

365

27

436

18

401

24

448

22

437

19

Warwickshire

62

27

80

19

85

25

86

19

110

17

West Mercia

219

37

226

35

214

31

233

27

220

20

West Midlands

746

41

816

32

973

25

943

29

912

23

West Yorkshire

553

42

626

31

580

25

604

25

617

19

Wiltshire

155

37

139

41

111

32

148

33

157

18

n/a = not available

1 Offences detected in current year may have been initially recorded in an earlier year, so some percentages may exceed 100.

2 Expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules came into effect on 1 April 1998.

3 Revised detections guidance was implemented on 1 April 1999.

4 The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

5 The Sexual Offences Act 2003, introduced in May 2004, altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences.

6 In accordance with guidance from the Office for National Statistics, values less than 3 have been suppressed in order to protect confidentiality.