Crime figures: National and regional

According to the latest Home Office recorded crime figures there has been a sharp rise in violent crime but a slight decrease in property crime and drugs offences.

Check below for the national picture as well as a regional breakdown by police force area.

Recorded crime figures by offence
Offence group	12 months to Sept 1999	12 months to Sept 2000	% change
Violence against the person	551,157	588,846	+6.8
Sexual offences	37,400	37,263	-0.4
Robbery	74,835	90,410	+20.8
Total violent crime	663,392	716,519	+8.0
Burglary	935,343	862,671	-7.8
Total theft & handling stolen goods	2,218,829	2,179,674	-1.8
Theft of and from vehicles	1,071,788	1,000,317	-6.7
Fraud & forgery	313,833	328,306	+4.6
Criminal damage	908,651	953,979	+5.0
Total property crime	4,376,656	4,324,630	-1.2
Drug offences	129,670	115,492	-10.9
Other notifiable offences	64,708	64,775	+0.1
Total all offences	5,234,426	5,221,416	-0.2
Source: Home Office Notifiable offences recorded by the police by offence

Recorded crime figures by police force area
Areas	Oct98 Sept99	Oct99 Sept00	Change no.	Change %
Avon & Somerset	149,123	145,433	-3,690	-2.5
Bedfordshire	52,480	51,554	-926	-1.8
Cambs.	68,872	66,884	-1,988	-2.9
Cheshire	62,864	64,134	+1,270	+2.0
Cleveland	66,462	64,454	-2,008	-3.0
Cumbria	39,775	34,453	-5,322	-13.4
Derbyshire	86,170	82,717	-3,453	-4.0
Devon & Cornwall	111,444	105,779	-5,665	-5.1
Dorset	51,781	52,003	+222	+0.4
Durham	49,180	46,915	-2,265	-4.6
Essex	99,815	105,370	+5,555	+5.6
Gloucs.	50,508	49,153	-1,355	-2.7
Greater Manchester	365,972	372,013	+6,041	+1.7
Hampshire	127,306	136,221	+8,915	+7.0
Hertfordshire	50,130	58,586	+8,456	+16.9
Humberside	127,251	115,527	-11,724	-9.2
Kent	127,233	127,799	+566	+0.4
Lancashire	112,337	107,373	-4,964	-4.4
Leics.	93,795	90,879	-2,916	-3.1
Linconshire	46,707	44,734	-1,973	-4.2
London, City of	7,868	7,535	-333	-4.2
Merseyside	143,207	146,631	+3,424	+2.4
Metropolitan Police	1,000,128	1,030,215	+30,087	+3.0
Norfolk	58,603	58,166	-437	-0.7
Northants	64,702	58,581	-6,121	-9.5
Northumbria	145,735	137,789	-7,946	-5.5
N. Yorkshire	55,187	51,875	-3,312	-6.0
Notts.	137,018	137,995	+977	+0.7
S. Yorkshire	135,138	126,364	-8,774	-6.5
Staffordshire	92,379	104,732	+12,353	+13.4
Suffolk	40,696	45,075	+4,379	+10.8
Surrey	44,676	54,179	+9,503	+21.3
Sussex	134,894	137,961	+3,067	+2.3
Thames Valley	184,991	187,659	+2,668	+1.4
Warwickshire	39,079	36,259	-2,820	-7.2
West Mercia	82,900	80,148	-2,752	-3.3
West Midlands	353,035	364,192	+11,157	+3.2
W. Yorkshire	268,767	259,028	-9,739	-3.6
Wiltshire	39,760	35,997	-3,763	-9.5
Dyfed-Powys	24,232	23,050	-1,182	-4.9
Gwent	61,347	56,940	-4,407	-7.2
N. Wales	44,561	45,783	+1,222	+2.7
S. Wales	136,318	113,281	-23,037	-16.9
Total met-forces	2,419,850	2,443,767	+23,917	+1.0
Total non met-forces	2,814,576	2,777,649	-36,927	-1.3
Total	5,234,426	5,221,416	-13,010	-0.2
Source: Home Office Notifiable offences recorded by the police by area

Lowest no. of offences These figures represent the lowest number of offences per 100,000 of the population in police force area October 99 - September 2000
Force areas	No. of offences
Dyfed-Powys	4,795
Surrey	5,026
Hertfordshire	5,617
Wiltshire	5,898
Essex	6,514
Source: Home Office

Highest no. of offences These figures represent the highest number of offences per 100,000 of the population in police force area October 99 - September 2000
Force areas	No. of offences
Greater Manchester	14,436
Metropolitan Police	14,245
West Midlands	13,866
Nottinghamshire	13,363
Humberside	13,104
Source: Home Office