There are two types of crime statistics that you might hear about:

• Recorded Crime - This is crime reported to the police. These statistics provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes. They are an important indicator of police workload and can be used for analysing local crime patterns
• British Crime Survey (BCS) - These statistics are based on interviews and can provide a better reflection of the true extent of crime. 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.

England and Wales

Official crime statistics can be found on the Home Office website, in the Research Development and Statistics section. Download Crime in England and Wales 2010/11 as PDF documents from the Home Office website.

Scotland

Search the publications area of the Scottish Government's website to find their latest crime statistics.

Northern Ireland

Visit the crime statistics page at the website of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for the latest monhtly statistics and the yearly statistics.

Crimestoppers statistics

Read Crimestoppers' latest statistics, updated monthly.