Crime against households at lowest point since records began
The latest crime figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show crime against households and resident adults is at the lowest point in the history of the survey. The figures which were for England and Wales, showed a seven per cent fall, and is at its lowest point since 1981 and is less than half its peak level in 1995.
There were 3.7m recorded offences in the year ending June 2013, a fall of five per cent cent from last year. This is the lowest level since 2002/03 when the National Crime Recording Standard was introduced.
Victim-based crime fell by six per cent compared to the previous year and accounted for 83 per cent of all police recorded crime. Other crimes recorded by the police fell by eight per cent compared to last year, totalling 400,156.
The ONS points out that offences such as robbery tend to be concentrated in metropolitan areas. More than half of all robbery offences were committed in London.
London experienced the highest crime rate in England. There were 95 police-recorded crimes per 1,000 population compared with 64 per 1,000 population across England. An estimated 245 crimes against households were reported to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) per 1,000 households, compared with 217 per 1,000 households for England.
The decrease in offences has mostly been made up by areas such as the West Midlands where offences fell by18 per cent during the period.