Crime and justice chart of the week

Rates of most common crimes have dropped since 2010
The Crime Survey for England and Wales is based on a large, representative sample of households. The survey measures crime in a consistent way that is not affected by changes in police recording of crime, so it can be used to reliably track changes in crime over time.
Last updated on 21 April 2023 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Worry about many types of ASB is at its lowest level for 20 years
The Crime Survey for England and Wales asks people every year if they are worried about different types of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the area where they live. For many types of ASB, in 2022 the percentage of people saying many types of ASB were a very/fairly big problem in their area was at or near its lowest level since records began in 2002.
Last updated on 21 April 2023 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Chart: Government proposals would mean pay for new police officers will have fallen by a quarter in 13 years
The Home Office has proposed a 3.5% increase in police pay for 2023. If that were applied equally across all pay points, it would mean that a police constable who has just completed initial training in England and Wales would be paid about £9,500 less in 2023 than they would have been in 2010 once inflation is taken into account – a real-terms reduction of 26%.
21 February 2023 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Increases in crime-related demand are hitting some forces harder than others
One way to understand crime-related demands on police forces is to track ‘crime pressure’, a measure of investigative workload representing the number of crimes reported to a force per officer, weighted according to Office for National Statistics estimates of the relative severity of different crimes.
18 August 2022 8 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Adjusting for population change, the number of police officers in England and Wales now is less than in 31 of the past 40 years
The government is reversing its earlier cuts to police numbers, but population increases mean that despite 13,800 extra posts over the past two years, the number of officers per 100,000 people now is still at levels not seen (before austerity) since 1980.
29 July 2022 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Chart: Cuts to officer numbers still being felt in some forces
The government plans to reverse their previous police cuts by recruiting 20,000 extra police officers between 2019 and 2023. But the funding for those officers isn’t spread evenly, meaning 18 forces now have more officers than in 2010 while eight forces still have at least 10% fewer officers than 12 years ago.
27 July 2022 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Chart: Over 13 years, basic police pay has fallen by 22% in real terms
A combination of government-led changes to pay mean a police constable who has just completed initial training in England and Wales in 2022 is paid about £7,600 less now than they would have been in 2010, once inflation is taken into account.
19 July 2022 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Increases in crime-related demand are hitting some forces harder than others
One way to understand crime-related demands on police forces is to track ‘crime pressure’, a measure of investigative workload representing the number of crimes reported to a force per officer, weighted according to Office for National Statistics estimates of the relative severity of different crimes.
19 July 2021 7 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Chart: Police cuts still being felt in most forces
The government this week announced that almost 9,000 police officers had been recruited in England and Wales as part of a plan to increase police numbers by 20,000 by 2023.
30 April 2021 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week
Chart: Typical rape investigation times doubled between 2012 and 2018
The time taken for a typical rape case to be prosecuted in court increased only slightly from 2012 to 2018, but the time taken for police to investigate rapes and the CPS to decide whether to charge a suspect has more than doubled.
17 March 2021 1 min read Crime and justice chart of the week