About the data
Contents
Crime and Policing Comparator – General Points
Recorded crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB)
Crime and Policing Comparator – General Points
About Most Similar Groups
What are Most Similar Groups?
Most Similar Groups (MSGs) are groups of police force areas that have been found to be the most similar to each other based on an analysis of demographic, social and economic characteristics which relate to crime. With the exception of the City of London Police (for which it was not possible to identify any most similar forces), each force area has its own group of up to seven force areas to which it is ‘most similar’.
Why use Most Similar Groups?
MSGs are designed to help make fair and meaningful comparisons between forces. Forces operate in very different environments and face different challenges. It can be more meaningful to compare a force with other forces which share similar social and economic characteristics, than, for example, a neighbouring force. The development of the MSG approach involved stakeholders from the Home Office, Association of Chief Police Officers and HMIC, with advice from independent academics.
How are Most Similar Groups calculated?
A number of social, economic and demographic variables are identified which are closely related to levels of crime. MSGs are determined by identifying the forces which are most similar on the basis of these factors. You can download a technical note with a more detailed explanation of how MSGs are formed (PDF, 135KB, new window).
Note that it is possible for force Y to be in force X’s most similar group without force X appearing in force Y’s group.
How are Most Similar Group averages calculated?
The average crime rate for an MSG is the sum of crime rates in a group divided by the total number of forces in the group. All of the most similar forces (including the force being compared) are included in calculating the average for the MSG. However, the MSG comparison charts also include an upper and a lower bound line. Given the spread of crime rates for all forces in the group, the chosen force’s crime rate would be expected to lie between these lines. The technical note includes more information on how the upper and lower lines are calculated (PDF, 135KB, new window).
How to interpret charts that use Most Similar Group comparisons
It is more important to note where your force lies in relation to the red lines than its rank among similar forces. If the crime rate for your force lies between the red lines, it is normal for the group. If it lies outside the red lines, it is higher or lower than normal. See ‘How are Most Similar Group averages calculated’ below for more information.
The other forces in this chart are the most similar to the selected force (based on an assessment of their social and economic characteristics). However, the circumstances in these forces do still vary and can have an impact on the crime rates shown.
Mapping crime classifications between different sources of crime data
Recorded crime data is also published by the Office of National Statistics, and on police.uk. Police.uk have published two factsheets to aid comparison of these sources:
- Comparing sources of recorded crime data (PDF, new window)
- Mapping crime classifications (PDF, new window)
Population
Most rates have been calculated per 1,000 or per head of population. Population figures used are mid-2010 population estimates, estimated by the Office for National Statistics and based on the 2001 Census. These give the number of people who are usually resident within each police force area. Some forces (such as West Midlands Police and the Metropolitan Police Service) have a large transient population, as they have more commuters and visitors entering their force area than leaving each day. Other forces (such as Essex Police) have negative transient populations, as they have more people commuting to or visiting other force areas than they have entering each day. Transient population figures have not been used for most forces as up-to-date estimates are not available, and because the effect of the transient population on crime rates is limited due to comparatively large resident populations.
However, we have used transient figures for the City of London. See ‘City of London population’ below for the reasons behind this.
City of London population
For all forces other than the City of London Police, most rates have been calculated using mid-2010 resident population estimates. For the City of London Police, rates have been calculated using the transient population. As the resident population of the City of London force area is very low compared with its transient population, figures given per 1,000 residents would be unrepresentative of the true picture in the area. Therefore transient population figures have been used, to take into account the people commuting to and visiting the force area each day (as well as those leaving the force area each day). These figures have been sourced from the Department for Communities and Local Government, using results from the 2001 Census.
England and Wales
These are the figures for England and Wales as a whole. They are calculated from England and Wales totals. For example, the sum of all crimes from all forces in England and Wales (excluding the British Transport Police) was divided by the total population of England and Wales to give the national all crime rate.
Trends over time
Where possible, data has been provided for the last four years. The way crime is classified has changed significantly over time for some categories, so it will not be possible to present crime data from before 2008/09 in any future updates.
Trends over time are more limited for cost breakdowns. This is because the breakdowns of cost data for years before 2011/12 were not subject to the same rigorous quality assurance process as the more recent estimates.
Timeliness of data
The latest published data has been provided for all indicators. This varies by indicator: data for the year to December 2012 is available for crime and victim satisfaction data; for other data sets the latest data covers the year ending March 2012. The latest cost and workforce estimates data are for the 2012/13 financial year. The period covered by the data is stated in each chart.
Recorded crime and ASB
The Crime and Policing Comparator’s Recorded crime and ASB category includes all police-recorded crime, along with recorded ASB incidents.
All Crimes – source of the data
Sexual offences excluding rape
All violence/all sexual offences
Public disorder/disrupted crimes
Disrupted crimes/fraud and forgery
All Crimes – source of the data
This site includes crime data based on police-recorded crimes at both national and police force area level. Crime is shown as ‘rate per 1,000 population’, which is equal to the number of police-recorded offences per 1,000 population resident in the area in question.
Crime rates are presented either as individual force crime rates over time compared with one other force (or with the England and Wales crime rate), or by showing the latest year’s crime rate in one force compared to all other forces in England and Wales, or that force’s Most Similar Group of forces (see above).
When presenting the rate of crime for an individual force over time, the four years ending December 2009, December 2010, December 2011 and December 2012 are shown. The way crime is classified has changed over time for some categories, so for consistency we will not present crime rates from before 2008/09 in any future updates. Force crime rates over time can either be compared to another force of your choice or to the England and Wales rate over the same period for the chosen crime type.
When comparing the crime rates in one force to all other forces in England and Wales, data for the year ending December 2012 is shown. The England and Wales crime rate for the chosen crime type is also displayed for comparison.
Source of crime data: Home Office Statistics data returns from forces. These data are National Statistics.
Crime codes
Get the free Excel viewer from Microsoft (external link)
This document also explains how the crime codes map to the crime tree. As there have been changes in some codes between 2011/12 and 2012/13, the way some codes align with the branches of the tree has changed for crime data. Detections data (see below) – which is only available up to 2011/12 – is aligned to an earlier version of the tree. The document explains how the codes relate to both versions of the tree.
Crime tree
This crime tree shows you how the crime categories are organised.
All crimes
All notifiable crimes recorded by the police. Notifiable crimes include all offences that could possibly be tried by jury (plus some less serious offences, such as minor theft that would not usually be tried by jury) together with a few additional, closely related offences, such as assault without injury.
All victim-based crimes
All police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim. This victim could be an individual, an organisation or corporate body. This category includes violent crimes directed at a particular individual or individuals, sexual offences, stealing crimes, criminal damage and arson.
All violence
All police-recorded crimes of violence committed against a person, whether or not an injury has incurred. Possession of weapons and public order offences are excluded.
Violence with injury
Police-recorded crimes of violence committed against a victim where an injury is inflicted. This includes murder, manslaughter, causing death by dangerous driving and both serious and less serious wounding. This excludes possession of items to endanger life.
Note that from April 2012 – because of the changes to the way crimes are recorded – this category no longer includes some types of offences that are now categorised under violence without injury. The numbers of crimes involved are small, and so this does not have a significant impact on the comparability of data from previous periods. For more information, see ‘Crime codes’ above.
Violence without injury
Police-recorded crimes of violence where there is no injury to the victim, including harassment, endangering life (where no actual injury occurs), threats to kill and assaults without injury (common assault). This excludes public order and possession offences.
Note that because of changes to the way crimes are recorded, from April 2012 this category includes some types of offences of endangering life that were previously counted under other categories (violence with injury and disrupted crimes). The numbers of crimes involved are small, and so this does not have a significant impact on the comparability of data with previous periods.
All sexual offences
All police-recorded sexual offences, including sexual or indecent assault, sexual grooming, trafficking for sexual exploitation, and rape. This category excludes prostitution-related offences, which are included in ‘other non victim-based’ crimes.
It should be noted that due to the complex nature of these crimes, particularly rape, care should be taken when comparing crime rates across forces as there are many factors which can affect the level of recorded crime. For example, victims being encouraged to report crimes and cultural differences.
Rape
Police-recorded crimes of rape and attempted rape.
It should be noted that due to the complex nature of rape, care should be taken when comparing crime rates across forces as there are many factors which can affect the level of recorded crime. For example, victims being encouraged to report crimes and cultural differences.
Sexual offences excluding rape
Police-recorded sexual offences excluding rape. This group of crimes includes sexual or indecent assault, sexual grooming and trafficking for sexual exploitation but excludes prostitution-related offences, which are included in ‘other non victim-based’ crime.
All violence/all sexual offences
The data shown in the ‘Violent crime’ category on police.uk combines the ‘All violence’ plus ‘All sexual offences’ categories used here in the Crime and Policing Comparator. This is to help protect victim confidentiality, since the police.uk maps are showing offences at street level. Because the Crime and Policing Comparator is showing force-level data, we are able to separate out the two categories.
All stealing
All police-recorded crime where property or goods are stolen or there is an attempt to steal such items. This can be either through the use of force or the threat of force or other means. This includes offences of burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, shoplifting and other stealing.
Stealing is referred to as ‘acquisitive crime’ in Home Office publications.
All burglary
All police-recorded burglary, both from a dwelling (‘domestic’) and not from a dwelling (‘non-domestic’). Burglary is where a trespasser enters (or attempts to enter) any building to steal or commit damage.
Domestic burglary
Police-recorded burglary from a dwelling, ie where a trespasser enters (or attempts to enter) a domestic building such as a house or garage to steal or commit damage.
Non-domestic burglary
Police-recorded burglary not from a dwelling, ie where a trespasser enters (or attempts to enter) a non-domestic building such as a shop or office to steal or commit damage.
All robbery
All police-recorded robbery. Robbery is where an offender steals or attempts to steal from an individual, business or other corporate body using force or the threat of force.
Personal robbery
Police-recorded robbery crimes where an offender steals or attempts to steal something from an individual using force or the threat of force.
Business robbery
Police-recorded robbery crimes where an offender steals or attempts to steal something belonging to a business or other corporate body by using force or the threat of force.
Vehicle crime
Police-recorded theft or unauthorised taking of a vehicle, thefts from a vehicle and interference with a motor vehicle.
Unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle involves someone taking a motor vehicle (either for their own use or another’s use) without having the consent of the owner or other lawful authority. A person is guilty of theft of a motor vehicle if he or she dishonestly takes a motor vehicle belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of it.
Interference with a motor vehicle involves a person interfering with a motor vehicle or trailer, or with anything carried in or on it, with the intention of committing theft of/from the motor vehicle or trailer (or part of it), or taking and driving the vehicle away without consent. It also includes offences where a person gets on to a vehicle on a road or parking place provided by the local authority or tampers with the brake or other part of its mechanism. Where there is evidence to show intent to permanently deprive the owner of the vehicle, an offence of attempted theft of a motor vehicle is recorded; where this is not the case and the vehicle has been searched, an offence of attempted theft from a motor vehicle is recorded.
Shoplifting
Police-recorded offences of theft from public areas of shops or stalls, other than by employees.
Other stealing
Police-recorded crimes of theft including theft from a person (such as pick pocketing and snatching personal property), theft of mail, theft of a pedal cycle, theft by an employee and theft in a house (where entry is not gained by trespassing). It also includes some types of fraud (including making off without payment and other theft related fraud). This excludes burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, handling stolen goods and shoplifting.
Criminal damage and arson
All police-recorded crimes where the offender has damaged or destroyed something, including by fire.
All non victim-based crimes
All police-recorded crimes where there are no direct individual victims. This includes public disorder, drug offences, possession of weapons and other items, handling stolen goods and other miscellaneous offences committed against the state.
The rates for some crime types within this category could be increased by proactive police activity, for example searching people and finding them in possession of drugs or weapons.
Public disorder
Police-recorded public disorder crimes, including causing public fear, alarm or distress, rioting, violent disorder or treason.
All drug offences
All police-recorded drug offences, including trafficking and possession.
The level of recorded crime for this category can be an indication of how police are enforcing these types of crime compared with other forces as well as of actual crime levels. For instance, a force might have set a priority to bring down drug offences, and so be searching and catching more people, and therefore recording more crimes.
Drug trafficking
Police-recorded offences of drug trafficking, including the manufacture, supply and unlawful exportation of illegal or controlled drugs.
The level of recorded crime for this category can be an indication of how police are enforcing these types of crime compared with other forces, as well as of actual crime levels. For instance, a force might have set a priority to bring down drug offences, and so be searching and catching more people, and therefore recording more crimes.
Possession/use of drugs
Police-recorded offences of drug possession (personal use) and other drug offences, including permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes, unlawfully selling intoxicating substances (e.g. solvents) and unlawful prescriptions. This excludes trafficking offences.
The level of recorded crime for this category can be an indication of how police are enforcing these types of crime compared with other forces, as well as of actual crime levels. For instance, a force might have set a priority to bring down drug offences, and so be searching and catching more people, and therefore recording more crimes.
Disrupted crimes
Police-recorded offences including possession of concealed weapons and other dangerous items, going equipped to steal and handling stolen goods.
The level of recorded crime for this category can be an indication of how active police are in enforcing these types of crime compared with other forces, as well as of actual crime levels. For instance, a force might have set a priority to bring down the number of knife crimes, and so be searching and catching more people, and therefore recording more crimes.
Note that from April 2012 – because of changes to the way crimes are recorded – this category no longer includes some types of offences that are now categorised under violence without injury. The numbers of crimes involved are small, and so this does not have a significant impact on the comparability of data from previous periods. For more information, see ‘Crime codes’ above.
Public disorder/disrupted crimes
The data shown in the ‘Public disorder/weapons’ category on police.uk combines the ‘Public disorder’ plus elements of the ‘Disrupted crimes’ categories used here in the Crime and Policing Comparator. We have separated out these categories for ease of comparison.
Other non victim-based crimes
This category consists of police-recorded non victim-based miscellaneous crimes such as perverting the course of justice, dangerous driving, bankruptcy and insolvency, bail offences, health and safety offences and prostitution-related offences.
The level of recorded crime for this category can be an indication of how police are enforcing these types of crime compared with other forces, as well as of actual crime levels. For instance, a force might have set a priority to bring down dangerous driving offences, and so be catching more people, and therefore recording more crimes.
Fraud and forgery
Offences of fraud and forgery, both as recorded by police and as passed to the police by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
Many incidents are reported directly to the bank or financial institution concerned, who may investigate the matter themselves. They generally only refer on to the police those cases where direct action can then be taken to pursue an offender. As a result, the police-recorded crime for this type of offence represents only part of the picture.
Note that some types of theft-related fraud are included in ‘Other Stealing’, above.
Disrupted crimes/fraud and forgery
The data shown in the ‘Other crime’ category on police.uk combines the other non-victim based group, ‘Fraud and forgery’ plus elements of the ‘Disrupted crimes’ categories used here in the Crime and Policing Comparator. We have separated out these categories for ease of comparison.
Perceptions of anti-social behaviour
The Crime and Policing Comparator previously presented data showing the percentage of people that percieve a high level of ASB in their area at force level. This dataset has been removed as these data have not been available at force level since March 2011. This is due to the relevant survey questions being asked of a reduced portion of the overall sample.
ASB Incidents
ASB Incidents – data sources and limitations
ASB Incidents – data sources and limitations
All police forces record incidents of ASB reported to them in accordance with the provisions of the National Standard for Incident Recording (NSIR). While incidents are recorded under NSIR in accordance with the same ‘victim focused’ approach that applies for recorded crime, these figures are not accredited National Statistics and are not subject to the same level of quality assurance as the main recorded crime collection. Incident counts should be interpreted as incidents recorded by the police, rather than reflecting the true level of victimisation. Other agencies also deal with anti-social behaviour incidents (for example, local authorities and social landlords); incidents reported to these agencies will not generally be included in police figures.
In 2011/12 a new framework of definitions for categorising incidents of anti-social behaviour recorded by the police was introduced. The new framework divides ASB incidents into three categories – nuisance, personal, and environmental – and places further emphasis on a risk based victim-based approach to recording ASB. The introduction of this new classification framework means that ASB incident data reported from 2011/12 are not comparable with previous years.
These data are now published annually by the Office for National Statistics. They are outside the scope of National Statistics.
ASB Incidents – definition
This is the number of anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 population, as recorded by the police.
Anti-social behaviour is made up of:
- Personal ASB
- Nuisance ASB
- Environmental ASB
Personal ASB
‘Personal’ is designed to identify ASB incidents that are deliberately targeted at a particular individual or specific group or are aimed at having an impact on a particular individual or specific group rather than the community at large.
It includes incidents that cause concern, stress, disquiet or irritation through to incidents which have a serious adverse impact someone’s quality of life. At one extreme of the spectrum it includes minor annoyance; at the other end it could result in risk of harm, deterioration of health and disruption of mental or emotional well-being, resulting in an inability to carry out normal day to day activities through fear and intimidation.
This category should not include random acts of ASB which are not clearly aimed at a specific individual: e.g. the random throwing of flour or eggs at Halloween or the throwing of snowballs providing that no harm was intended or caused nor notifiable crime committed.
Care is needed to ensure that ‘personal’ incidents that amount to notifiable crimes such as harassment, common assault or criminal damage are converted into crime reports within the remit of NCRS.
Nuisance ASB
‘Nuisance’ captures those incidents where an individual or group causes trouble, annoyance, inconvenience, offence or suffering to people in the local community in general rather than being deliberately targeted at specific individuals or groups.
It includes incidents where behaviour goes beyond the conventional bounds of acceptability and impacts on the quality of life of individuals and communities. Just as individuals will have differing expectations and levels of tolerance so will communities have different ideas about what goes beyond tolerable or acceptable behaviour within their communities.
Care is needed to ensure that ‘nuisance’ incidents that amount to notifiable crimes such as harassment, common assault or criminal damage are converted into crime reports within the remit of NCRS.
Environmental ASB
‘Environmental’ deals with the interface between people and places. It includes incidents and inconsiderate actions which have an impact on the surroundings including the natural, built and social environments. This category is about encouraging reasonable behaviour whilst managing and protecting the various environments so that people can enjoy their own private spaces as well as shared or public spaces.
People’s physical settings and surroundings are known to impact positively or negatively on mood and sense of well-being and a perception that nobody cares about the quality of a particular environment can cause those effected by that environment to feel undervalued or ignored. Public spaces change over time as a result of physical effects caused, for example, by building but the environment can also change as a result of the people using or misusing that space.
Incidents, which do not amount to notifiable crime, that should be recorded as ASB Environmental will include amongst other environmental offences, visual pollution and spatial abuse: littering, dog fouling, unlawfully abandoned vehicles, unlawfully exposing vehicles for sale on a road, light pollution and noise from private and licensed premises.
Care is needed to ensure that ‘environmental incidents that amount to notifiable crimes such as criminal damage are converted into crime reports within the remit of NCRS.
Anti-social behaviour incidents are not recorded as crimes and are therefore not included in the all crime figures.
ASB Incidents – time period
Data is presented for the year ending March 2012.
Quality of service
The Crime and Policing Comparator’s Quality of service category includes all solved crimes data and also a victim satisfaction indicator.
Victim satisfaction – source of the data
Victim satisfaction – time period
Victim satisfaction – definition
Victim satisfaction – England and Wales figures
Victim satisfaction – data limitations
Victim satisfaction – confidence interval
Victim satisfaction – statistical significance
Solved crimes – source of the data
Restorative Justice and Community Resolutions
All victim-based crimes solved
Violence with injury crimes solved
Violence without injury crimes solved
Other sexual offences excluding rape solved
Domestic burglary crimes solved
Non-domestic burglary crimes solved
Personal robbery crimes solved
Business robbery crimes solved
Criminal damage and arson crimes solved
All non-victim based crimes solved
Drug trafficking crimes solved
Possession/use of drugs crimes solved
Other non-victim based crimes solved
Fraud and forgery crimes solved
Victim Satisfaction – source of the data
These data come from local user surveys conducted by all police forces and provided to the Home Office on a quarterly basis. The surveys are designed to produce results over a 12-month period, updated on a quarterly basis.
These data are outside the scope of National Statistics.
Victim Satisfaction – time period
Data have been provided for the years ending December 2009, December 2010, December 2011 and December 2012.
Victim Satisfaction – definition
The local user survey data provided in the Crime and Policing Comparator includes the views of surveyed victims who have had contact with the police in connection with burglary, vehicle crime and violent crime. The figures represent the percentage of these victims who are satisfied with the overall service provided by the police (whole experience).
Further breakdowns of this data are available to download from the data file in our data section. These include:
- making contact with the police (ease of contact);
- action taken by the police (actions);
- being kept informed of progress (follow-up); and
- treatment by staff (treatment).
Victim satisfaction – England and Wales figures
The percentage of victims who are satisfied with the overall service provided by the police for England and Wales has been calculated by taking the total number of victims in England and Wales who are satisfied with their experience of the police and dividing by the total number of respondents in England and Wales for each of the crime types.
Confidence intervals for England and Wales have been calculated in the same way as they have for individual forces.
Victim satisfaction – data limitations
Please note that these data are not comparable to previously published data. This is because previously published victim satisfaction data includes victims of road traffic collisions, whereas these victims have now been excluded from the local user surveys.
Victim satisfaction – confidence interval
As the victim satisfaction data is derived from sample surveys, the percentage of victims satisfied figures are estimates only, and confidence intervals apply. A 95% confidence interval has been used to show the estimated range of values likely to include the percentage of victims who are satisfied with their overall experience of the police if all the victims of burglary, vehicle crime and violent crime were asked the same question.
For example, if a large proportion of the victims are sampled then the percentage of victims who are satisfied will have a small confidence interval, as we are more certain the percentage of surveyed victims who are satisfied reflects the views of all the victims. If a small proportion of the victims are sampled then the percentage of victims who are satisfied will have a large confidence interval, as we are less certain that the percentage of surveyed victims who are satisfied reflects the views of all the victims.
Victim satisfaction – statistical significance
As the victim satisfaction data is derived from sample surveys, the percentage of victims satisfied figures are estimates only. As such, not all differences between the percentage of victims who are satisfied are statistically significant.
A statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level means that the difference is unlikely to have occurred by chance.
Solved crimes – source of the data
‘Solved crimes’ (also known as the ‘sanction detection rate’) on this site are presented as the ratio of sanction detections to police-recorded crimes for a given period. They therefore represent the proportion of crimes solved.
A sanction detection is counted as any police-recorded crime where a suspect has been identified and notified as being responsible for committing that crime and what the full implications of this are, and has received an official sanction. Official sanctions included are: charges, cautions, penalty notices, offences taken into consideration (TICs) and cannabis warnings.
A TIC is where an offender admits the crime by way of a Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) compliant interview, and asks for it to be taken into consideration by the court. Offences taken into consideration must be similar to – but not more serious than – the offence charged. The offender must be appearing before court to have the matters taken into consideration. TICs can include crimes that have not previously been recorded, providing the victim confirms that the offence occurred.
Note: The solved crime rate (or sanction detection rate) is calculated using Sanction Detections and Recorded Crimes covering the same period. Due to the lag in time between a crime being recorded and being detected, it may be possible for the solved crime rate to be greater than 100%. This is more likely where lots of detections occur at once, or where solved rates are high in cases where there is usually a detection at the point the crime is recorded (e.g. drug possession).
These data are National Statistics.
Solved crime rates are presented either as individual force rates over time compared with one other force (or with the solved crime rate for England and Wales), or by showing the latest year’s rate in one force compared to all other forces in England and Wales.
When presenting the rates for an individual force over time, the four years ending March 2009, March 2010, March 2011 and March 2012 are shown. The way crime is classified has changed over time for some categories, so for consistency we will not be presenting solved crime rates from before 2008/09 in any future update. Note that detections data is not published as frequently as crime data, so the detections data charts do not use the same time periods as the crime data charts. This means that minor changes to the ways crimes are classified from April 2012 do not yet apply to the detections data (see the information above on crime classifications).
When comparing the solved rate in one force to all other forces in England and Wales the year ending March 2012 is shown. The England and Wales rate for the chosen crime type is also displayed for comparison.
Restorative Justice and Community Resolutions
Along with charges, cautions, fixed penalty notices, TIC’s and cannabis warnings, a number of forces also use restorative justice or community resolutions as a crime disposal type, for less serious offences, in place of sanction detections.
Restorative Justice and Community Resolutions are ways of dealing with incidents outside of the formal criminal justice system through focussing on the needs of the victim and offenders, as well as the wider community. Victims play an active role in the process and offenders are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions (for example through apologising face to face, returning stolen money or repairing damage caused). This offers victims a more immediate and proportionate response and helps to prevent future offending, as well as saving time and money.
The Home Office does not currently collect these data on a mandatory basis and only requires that a Chief Constable has a local policy in place. For this reason these data are not directly comparable between forces and are not shown on the Crime and Policing Comparator.
However, it is possible for those forces that use restorative justice/community resolutions in place of official sanctions, that their sanction detection rates could be adversely affected.
The following forces currently report Restorative Justice data to the Home Office:
- Avon and Somerset
- Cambridgeshire
- Derbyshire
- Dorset
- Dyfed-Powys
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Greater Manchester Police
- Gwent
- Hampshire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Merseyside
- Norfolk
- Northumbria
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Sussex
- Thames Valley
- Warwickshire
- West Mercia
- West Midlands
- Wiltshire
The Home Office published information on Restorative Justice data in its July 2012 ‘Crimes Detected in England and Wales’ publication (covering the financial year ending 31 March 2012).
All crimes solved
This is the proportion of all police-recorded crimes solved by the police under the definition given above.
All victim-based crimes solved
All solved police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, including violence, sexual offences, stealing (acquisitive) crimes, criminal damage and arson.
All violence crimes solved
All solved police-recorded crimes of violence against a victim, regardless of whether or not an injury has incurred. Possession and public order offences are excluded.
Violence with injury crimes solved
Solved police-recorded crimes of violence committed against a victim where an injury is inflicted. This includes murder, manslaughter, causing death by dangerous driving, and both serious and less serious wounding. It excludes possession of items to endanger life.
Violence without injury crimes solved
Solved police-recorded crimes of violence where there is no injury to the victim. This incorporates harassment, endangering life (where no actual injury occurs), threats to kill, and assaults without injury (common assault). It excludes public order and possession offences.
All sexual offences solved
All solved police-recorded sexual offences, including sexual assault and rape.
It should be noted that due to the complex nature of these crimes, particularly rape, care should be taken when comparing crime rates across forces as there are many factors which can affect the level of recorded crime. For example, victims being encouraged to report crimes and cultural differences.
Rape crimes solved
Solved police-recorded rape offences.
It should be noted that due to the complex nature of rape, care should be taken when comparing crime rates across forces as there are many factors which can affect the level of recorded crime. For example, victims being encouraged to report crimes and cultural differences.
Other sexual offences excluding rape solved
Other solved police-recorded sexual offences apart from rape.
It should be noted that due to the complex nature of these crimes, care should be taken when comparing crime rates across forces as there are many factors which can affect the level of recorded crime. For example, victims being encouraged to report crimes and cultural differences.
All stealing crimes solved
All solved police-recorded burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, shoplifting and other stealing crimes. This does not include crimes of fraud or forgery.
‘Stealing’ is referred to as ‘acquisitive’ crime in Home Office publications.
All burglary crimes solved
All solved police-recorded burglary crimes, both from a dwelling (‘domestic’) and not from a dwelling (‘non-domestic’).
Domestic burglary crimes solved
Solved police-recorded burglary from a dwelling crimes.
Non-domestic burglary crimes solved
Solved police-recorded burglary not from a dwelling crimes.
All robbery crimes solved
All solved police-recorded robbery crimes.
Personal robbery crimes solved
Solved police-recorded robbery crimes where an offender steals or attempts to steal something from an individual using force or the threat of force.
Business robbery crimes solved
Solved police-recorded robbery crimes where an offender steals or attempts to steal something belonging to a business or other corporate body by using force or the threat of force.
Vehicle crimes solved
Solved police-recorded offences of theft or unauthorised taking of a vehicle, thefts from a vehicle and interference with a motor vehicle.
Shoplifting crimes solved
Solved police-recorded offences of theft from shops and stalls.
Other stealing crimes solved
Other solved police-recorded crimes of theft, excluding burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, handling stolen goods and shoplifting.
Criminal damage and arson crimes solved
Solved police-recorded offences of criminal damage and arson.
All non victim-based crimes solved
All solved police-recorded crimes where there are not direct individual victims, including public disorder offences, drug offences, possession of weapons and other items, handling stolen goods and other miscellaneous offences committed against the state.
The solved crime rates for this crime type can be higher than for other crime types because there is often a detection at the point the crime is recorded (e.g. in drug possession offences).
Public disorder crimes solved
Solved police-recorded crimes of public disorder including causing public fear, alarm or distress, rioting, violent disorder or treason.
All drug crimes solved
All solved police-recorded drug offences, including trafficking and possession.
The solved crime rates for this crime type can be higher than other crime types as there is usually a detection at the point the crime is recorded.
Drug trafficking crimes solved
Solved police-recorded drug trafficking crimes, including the manufacture, supply and unlawful exportation of illegal or controlled substances.
The solved crime rates for this crime type can be higher than other crime types as there is usually a detection at the point the crime is recorded.
Possession/use of drugs crimes solved
Solved police-recorded drug possession or use crimes, excluding trafficking offences.
The solved crime rates for this crime type can be higher than other crime types as there is usually a detection at the point the crime is recorded.
Disrupted crimes solved
Solved police-recorded offences including possession of concealed weapons and other dangerous items, going equipped to steal and handling stolen goods.
The solved crime rates for this crime type can be higher than other crime types as there is usually a detection at the point the crime is recorded.
Other non victim-based crimes solved
Solved police-recorded non victim-based miscellaneous crimes, such as perverting the course of justice, bankruptcy and insolvency, bail offences and health and safety offences.
The solved crime rates for this crime type can be higher than other crime types as there is usually a detection at the point the crime is recorded.
Fraud and forgery crimes solved
Solved offences of fraud and forgery both as recorded by police and as passed to the police by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
Force finances
The Crime and Policing Comparator’s Force finances category includes force costs and staff pay costs.
Pay cost, officer pay cost, PCSO pay cost and police staff pay cost – definition
Adjusted force cost – definition
Adjusted force cost – source of the data
Costs – source of the data
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) estimates for 2012/13, estimates for 2011/12, estimates for 2010/11 and actuals for 2009/10.
POA data is a live data source that is continuously updated. The data used within the Crime and Policing Comparator have been taken from the database frozen in mid-October 2012. Forces had the opportunity to check and re-submit their data before this freeze.
These data are outside the scope of National Statistics.
Costs – time period
For force cost (total), data has been provided for the financial years 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12. Cost breakdowns beyond this level have not been subjected to as rigorous checking historically as the 2011/12 estimates, and therefore trends over time have not been shown.
Costs – data quality
2011/12 and 2012/13 estimates data have been subject to a three-stage checking process. First, forces are required to reconcile their figures to their accounts; second, HMIC and CIPFA identify statistical outliers and highlight these to forces for amendment; and lastly, draft figures are provided to forces so that they can check for any unusual figures. Once these amendments are submitted, the data base is frozen and that data is used.
In circumstances where a force has submitted incorrect or insufficient data, that data may not be included.
Force cost – definition
Net revenue expenditure is defined as total expenditure (gross revenue expenditure) minus earned income.
Pay cost – definition
All pay costs do not include pay to special constables.
Pay cost, officer pay cost, PCSO pay cost and police staff pay cost – definition
Officer, PCSO and police staff pay for current budgeted staff includes overtime costs. Some of this may be paid for by income earned by the force; for example, overtime pay for policing football matches.
Income – definition
This is earned income. Examples of earned income are the policing of a football match or an airport, and for services provided to other forces.
Non-pay cost – definition
Non-pay costs are all costs other than pay and overtime costs. These include premises and transport costs, supplies and services, third party payments, capital financing and temporary and agency costs.
Officer overtime – definition
Officer overtime is calculated as a percentage of total officer pay (ie salaries plus overtime costs).
Adjusted force cost – definition
To allow fairer comparison between the cost of forces, the adjusted cost used here shows the total cost of the force (net revenue expenditure) per head of population, adjusted for several factors:
- National policing: The amount of money that the force spends on national policing has been deducted.
- Officer pay: London and South East forces pay extra allowances, or have different pay structures to the rest of England and Wales. To take account of this, officer salaries for each force have been compared with the national pay scales (without allowances), and deducted pro rata. The salaries are calculated by taking the mid-point of the bottom pay point and top pay point for constables, sergeants and other officers, and adding any additional allowances per force.
- Police staff and PCSO pay: Staff and PCSO pay is different for each force to take account of the local going rate. The going rate is calculated from a three-year average of regional median gross pay of ‘public administrators and defence’, compulsory social security. A three-year average has been used to smooth out the effect of any year-on-year volatility.
- Non-pay costs: Office costs can vary from region to region. To take account of this, regional office costs have been compared with the national average and deducted pro-rata. Regional office costs are measured as average cost per full time equivalent (FTE) for Government offices.
All of the adjustments have been made to gross revenue expenditure (net revenue expenditure plus earned income) and calculated as a percentage. The adjustment percentage has then been applied to net revenue expenditure to give the adjusted force cost.
Adjusted force cost – source of the data
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA): This is the data source for net revenue expenditure and national policing expenditure. Net revenue expenditure is made up of officer pay, police staff pay, PCSO pay and non-pay costs. 2012/13 estimates have been used. These data are outside the scope of National Statistics.
Home Office workforce data: These data have been used to provide the number of constables, sergeants and other officer full-time equivalents (FTEs) nationally, as the POA data do not provide these breakdowns. These figures are used to weight the differences to the national averages for Officer salaries. Data as at 31 March 2012 have been used. These data are National Statistics.
Office for National Statistics – Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings: These data are used for the median gross pay of ‘public administrators and defence’, compulsory social security, for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Cabinet Office – State of the Estate report: This is the data source for the average cost per FTE for Government offices. Data for 2010/11 has been used. These data are outside the scope of National Statistics.
Police Oracle: This data source has been used for Police Officer salary information since September 2010.
Office of Manpower Economics: This data source has been used for Police Officer allowances per force, prior to April 2011.
Data anomalies
Cleveland Police and Essex Police provided some anomalous POA data for 2011/12. These related to finance and police authority costs respectively.
Workforce numbers
The Crime and Policing Comparator’s Workforce numbers category includes force costs and staff pay costs.
Workforce – source of the data
Force workforce and number of officers – definition
Full time equivalents (FTE) – definition
Workforce – source of the data
Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Police Objective Analysis (POA) actuals for 2009/10, and estimates for 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Estimated workforce data are budgeted workforce strength and, unlike the actuals, may include staff posts for which there is a budget, but where the vacancy has yet to be filled.
POA data is a live data source that is continuously updated. The data used within the Crime and Policing Comparator have been taken from the database frozen in mid-October 2012. Forces had the opportunity to check and re-submit their data before this freeze.
These data are outside the scope of National Statistics.
Workforce – time period
Workforce data have been provided for the financial years 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Workforce – data quality
2011/12 and 2012/13 estimates data have been subject to a three-stage checking process. First, forces are required to reconcile their figures to their accounts and associated staff numbers; second, HMIC and CIPFA identify statistical outliers and highlight these to forces for amendment; and lastly, draft figures are provided to forces so that they can check for any unusual figures. Once these amendments are submitted, the database is frozen and that data is used.
In circumstances where a force has submitted incorrect or insufficient data, that data may not be included.
Force workforce and number of officers – definition
Force workforce and number of officers do not include special constables.
Full-time equivalents (FTE) – definition
The numbers of officers, PCSOs and police staff are shown as full time equivalents (FTE). An FTE is the number of hours that represent what a full time employee would work over a given time period, for example, a year or a pay period.
Data anomalies
Some forces (such as Lincolnshire Police and Cleveland Police) have outsourced a number of functions. As a result, elements of their workforce data appear anomalous (because they are so low in comparison to other forces); however, they are an accurate reflection of their numbers.