Dear sirs, i need to know, for a study i'm doing at school, how is the
criminal situation in U.k. from about 10 years to nowadays. Do you
know a website (maybe an official website of the police?) where i can
find how many crimes (murders, theft, and other criminal activities)
there are each year, to understand if u.k. is improving the situation
becoming a more safe place where to live, or if the situation is
getting worst? I did read that in London, about 70% of the people
would be happy to have a cam to control 24/24 their road and the
entrance of their house, and i also read that each day in the u.k. 10
milions of VHS are produced form surveillance cam, which are also
present in the public bathroom. DOes this mean that english people
don't feel to live in a safe country? Does this mean there is a lot of
crimes?  Sorry for bad english!

Dear railwaysuk-ga,

Crime Statistics in England and Wales come from two sources: the
Police and the British Crime Survey. The difference between the two is
that the police record crimes that are reported to them, while the
British Crime Survey records peoples actual experience of crime,
whether they report it to police or not.

In recent years there has also been a change to the way police have
been required to record certain crimes and the attitude of people to
report crime. As a result, the statistics are not consistent.

This web site, Crime Statistics for England and Wales, attempts to
combine the two sets of figures together. This page sets out the
information about the data.
http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/output/page2.asp

The long term trends are set out on this page
http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/output/page113.asp


The Scottish figures are so easily collated. However, this 2005 report
has some historical data; this cannot be compared with the England and
Wales as there are different methods of collecting the data.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/10/19155942/59429
Additional information appears here.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/15730/3320


The Northern Ireland police produce an annual report which has some
historical data going back to 1997.
http://www.psni.police.uk/main_report_2004-05.pdf


You will find additional information on England and Wales on the Home
Office?s Crime Reduction web site.
http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/sta_index.htm


As for your question about cctv, I have no problem with having them on
the streets and in public places. After all, if it had not been for
cctv, then the recent London bombers would not have been arrested.
There are several other examples of this. Not everyone agrees with
this as they have a concern over privacy issues.

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

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Clarification of Answer by answerfinder-ga on 10 Feb 2006 03:00 PST

Sorry, the sentence 'The Scottish figures are so easily collated.'
should read, 'The Scottish figures are not easily compared.'