LCC: Recorded crime in Lancashire 2013-2014

Updated the recorded crime article, and the latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimate that there were 7.3 million crimes in England and Wales, based on sample interviews with representative households and resident adults in the year ending March 2014. This represents a 14% yearly decrease, and is the lowest since the survey began in 1981. It is now less than half its peak level in 1995.

Police recorded crime at the national level showed a minor yearly decrease of 1%. In the 14-authority Lancashire area however, police recorded crime increased by 3% (95,372 criminal offences) in 2013/14 compared with 2012/13. This was slightly higher than the rise in the northwest region of 2%. However, crime has been falling consistently since 2002/3 and the small rise in Lancashire this year does not take total crime back up to its 2011/12 levels. 2012/13 was a particularly low crime year, whilst the long, hot summer in 2013 saw increased criminal activity across the county, which settled back to more normal levels once the weather cooled.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies is currently running an audit of police recording practice to improve consistency in applying the crime counting rules between forces. This may have introduced some variability in crime recording across the country in this set of results but should ensure more confidence in comparing areas in the future.

The LCC web statistics can be found here.