Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions
9. Tackling Vehicle Crime
The table below shows the extent of national baseline data for this theme, taken from the British Crime Survey.
Issue Consistency of question wording
Incidence of theft of vehicle Yes
Some
No
Some consistency
Incidence of theft from vehicle Yes
Some
No
Some consistency
Fear of theft of vehicle Yes
Some
No
Some consistency
Fear of theft from vehicle Yes
Some
No
Some consistency
The British Crime Survey shows that both fear of car-related crime and the number of crimes committed have decreased over the last fifteen years. The recently published 2000 BCS shows that vehicle-related thefts have decreased by 15% from 1997 to 1999, while concern about crime has remained stable.
The table below, based on vehicle owning households, gives reliable data on both fear and incidence of car related crime. In terms of fear of crime, there are some notable differences by region, and the most striking difference is that people living in the inner city are both more worried and more likely to have been a victim. Younger people are also more concerned about car related crimes.
Fear and Experience of Car Crime
Theft OF car
Theft FROM car
Very worried
Victim
Very worried
Victim
%
%
%
%
England & Wales
21
2.1
17
10.2
Merseyside
28
2.1
21
8.3
North East
30
3.5
24
8.3
West Midlands
23
2.6
16
9.8
London
21
2.0
19
11.4
Yorkshire/Humberside
24
2.7
19
13.5
North West
24
2.8
20
11.2
East Midlands
25
1.8
19
9.3
South West
16
1.2
14
9.7
South East
16
1.6
12
8.9
Eastern
17
2.1
14
10.8
Inner City
36
4.2
27
15.3
Urban
n/a
2.2
n/a
10.3
Rural
n/a
1.3
n/a
8.3
Source: 1998 British Crime Survey
It is important to note that the table above is based on car-owning households: local authorities may base their results on all households, making direct comparisons very difficult.
Furthermore, the British Crime Survey records car crimes from private households rather than commercial theft (although it is likely that the majority of local authority studies will exclude commercial theft as well). The British Crime Survey shows that theft of cars is generally reported to the police (less so theft from a car). It may, therefore, be appropriate to analyse police data to examine whether vehicle crime is decreasing faster than the national average in authorities which submit applications for Beacon Status. There does not appear to have been a great deal of research conducted by individual councils which enables us to build on this national baseline, although a number of authorities have asked similar questions to the British Crime survey.[ Previous ] [ Contents ] [ Next ]
Published 31 January 2001
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