View chart in full here.
In 2008/2009, local councils within the North West of England reported an increase in crime across the region. The greatest increase reported was domestic burglary at 72%, closely followed by vehicle crime at 56%. Gang and gun crime showed the lowest increase, both at just 6%.
But what exactly caused this increase in crime? The obvious place to start would be the recession. During 2008 and 2009 our economy was at its lowest and the North West was one of the worst hit areas of the country.
During this time local authorities were forced to cut back on many things. With less funding for street patrols and CCTV is it any wonder that the crime rate increased? And with less money being spent on places for youngsters to spend their evenings, the likelihood of anti-social behaviour occurring was greater.
However, crime is currently at its lowest in the country since 1997, having fallen 9% last year (see crime figures for 2009/2010). But with local councils facing a further 7.1% cut in their annual budget, how long will our crime rates stay this low? Surely the cuts will affect the safety of our streets and cause crime rates to increase once again.
Full set of Crime Rates across the entire country
Latest Crime Statistics
Full set of data concering where ASBOs are issued
Crime figures for 2009/2010
This post was created by Emma Rigby. You can contact Emma on erigby@uclan.ac.uk
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