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‘At a glance’The 1998 British Crime SurveyPhotos: Mark Harvey, iD•8CRIME RATESThere were an estimated 16,437,000 crimes against adults living inprivate households in 1997, 14% fewer than in 1995 (see Table).There were fewer vehicles stolen (down 27%), fewer offences of violence(down 17%), fewer acts of vandalism (down 15%), and fewer burglaries(down 7%). Mugging increased by 1% (see Table).There were four times as many crimes against property as violent ones(see Table).Number of incidents of crime in 1997 inthousands1997 % change1995-1997PROPERTYVandalism 2,917 -15Burglary 1,639 -7All vehicle thefts 3,483 -19Theft from vehicle 2,164 -14Theft of vehicle 375 -25Attempts of and from 943 -27Bicycle theft 549 -17Other household theft 2,067 -9Stealth theft from person 507 -15Other thefts of personal property 1,890 -9All BCS property 13,052VIOLENCECommon assault 2,276 -19Robbery and wounding 1,022 -13Robbery 307 -2Wounding 714 -17Snatch theft from person 83 12All BCS violence 3,381 -17Domestic violence 835 -16Mugging 390 1Stranger 681 -28Acquaintance 1,462 -15ALL BCS CRIME 16,437 -14A quarter of the 16,437,000 crimes were recorded by the policeand thus ended up in ‘Criminal Statistics’ (see page 10).CRIME RISKSOne third (34%) of adults were victims ofcrime in 1997, down 5% on 1995.Young people, the unemployed, singleparents, people living in private rentedaccommodation, those living in inner cityareas and in `areas of high physical disorder’were most likely to be victims.5.6% of households experienced at least oneburglary and 15.7% experienced at least onevehicle-related theft.There was a 4.7% chance of experiencingviolence. This was most often commonassault (3.2%).Risk of serious injury from an assault israre: 1% of adults were victims of awounding in 1997.Young men are most at risk of violence -20.9% of young men aged 16 to 24 had beena victim of violent crime in 1997 - oldpeople are at least risk.Most victims of violent crime know theoffender: 43% of violence involvesacquaintances, a further 25% is `domestic’.Men are most likely to be victims of strangerviolence, over eight out of 10 in 1997.Women were the victims in 70% of domesticincidents.CONCERN ABOUT CRIMEPeople tend to over-estimate the crimeproblem: only 9% of people are aware thatcrime fell between 1995 and 1997, and 58%believe that violent crime accounts for morethan half the total.Women worry more about crime than men,except about vehicle crime, and they areparticularly worried about violent crime. 31%of women are very worried about thepossibility of being raped.It is only in relation to safety after dark thatthe elderly register noticeably high concernabout crime. For instance, 31% of womenaged 60 or over say they feel very unsafe outalone after dark.8% of people indicate that the fear of crimehas a substantial effect on the quality of theirlives. Half say it has little or no effect.References‘The 1998 British Crime Survey England and Wales’,Home Office Statistical Bulletin 21/98 and ‘Concernabout Crime: Findings from the 1998 British CrimeSurvey’, Home Office Research Findings No.? isavailable from the Home Office, 50 Queen Anne’sGate, London SW1H 9AT. Free.