This is the second report in a new annual publication that combines the reporting of police recorded crime and the British Crime Survey (BCS) results. The police recorded and BCS figures are a complementary series that together provide a better picture of crime than could be obtained from either series alone.

		The police recorded crime reports on the financial year 2002/03. Police statistics provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes, are an important indicator of police workload, and can be used for local crime pattern analysis.
		For the crime types it covers, the BCS can provide a better reflection of the true extent of crime because it includes crimes that are not reported to the police. The BCS count also gives a better indication of trends in crime over time because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police, and in police recording practices.

Structure of the report

The report begins with a summary of the significant findings. Chapter 2 comments on the extent of crime in England and Wales, and Chapter 3 contains a discussion of recent trends, including the impact of changes in police recording practice. Chapters 4 and 5 provide a broader analysis of property crime, vehicle crime and violent crime. Chapter 6 provides information on the pattern of crime across England and Wales. Chapter 7 provides information on detections, and discusses some of the issues around the interpretation of those statistics. Chapter 8 summarises the BCS findings on fear of crime, attitudes to crime and experience of anti-social behaviour.

main volume (pdf, 7mb)

for quicker download, the publication is also available in four parts:

Chapters 1-3 (pdf, 2.6mb)
Chapters 4-6 (pdf, 1.9mb)
Chapters 7-8 (pdf, 2mb)
Appendices (pdf, 312kb)

Statistical tables from the chapters are available in Excel format:

chapter 2 tables (80kb)
chapter 3 tables (320kb)
chapter 4 tables (136kb)
chapter 5 tables (60kb)
chapter 6 tables (64kb)
chapter 7 tables (192kb)
chapter 8 tables (104kb)


Additional tables reporting statistics for individual Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Basic Command Units are available:

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships - Recorded Crime for Key Offences 2001/02 to 2002/03 Excel pdf

Basic Command Unit - Recorded Crime for Key Offences 2001/02 to 2002/03 Excel pdf

Basic Command Unit - Detection Recorded for Key Offences 2001/02 to 2002/03 Excel pdf


This year, for the first time, regional factsheets accompany the main volume. They summarise the main crime statistics and British Crime Survey findings for each of the Government Office Regions in England and for Wales (pdf):

London Region
North East Region
North West Region
Yorkshire and Humberside Region
South East Region
South West Region
East Midlands Region
East of England Region
West Midlands Region
Wales Cymru



A technical report providing more information about the adjustments that were used in making comparisons between the BCS and recorded crime data is available (pdf):

Comparing BCS and police counts of crime 2002-2003
2002-3 British Crime Survey (England and Wales) Technical Report Volume I


A companion volume providing more information on the impact of the National Crime Recording Standard on recorded crime is available (pdf):

Part One: The National Picture
Part Two: Impact on Individual Police Forces (7.1mb)

for quicker download, Part Two is also available in five parts:

Introduction and key to interpreting forces' NCRS charts (80K)
NCRS charts for forces A to D (1.8mb)
NCRS charts for forces E to L (1.9mb)
NCRS charts for forces M to N (1.2mb)
NCRS charts for forces O to Z (1.9mb)


Supplementary Volumes

© Crown Copyright 2004