Confused by crime statistics?

With the latest crime statistics covering England and Wales showing ongoing falls in the official crime rate, here are some links to two articles our director Richard Garside wrote earlier this year explaining crime trends.

Making sense of crime trends examines police recorded crime data. Property crime, violence and recessions looks at the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

One of the confusions lies in the attempt to lump together a whole load of different crime types under a general measure of 'overall crime'. As Richard points out:

'To ask why "overall" crime might be rising or falling is to ask the wrong question. It mystifies and confuses rather than elucidates and informs. Talk of overall crime rates is best reserved for the analysis of crime involving overalls.'