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SCOTTISH CRIME SURVEY 2003
CHAPTER TWO: EXTENT OF CRIME IN SCOTLAND
The Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) measures crime against people living in private households in the year preceding the survey; thus the 2003 SCS refers to crimes reported to have happened between January and December 2002. The 2003 SCS estimates that just over 1 million crimes were committed against individuals and households in 2002. This is not a definitive statement about the amount of crime in Scotland since it relates only to the crimes asked about in the survey. Full details of the crimes counted by the survey are given in Appendix B.
Of all the crimes that were reported in the 2003 SCS, the majority (66%) were committed against property (Figure 2.1), the remainder against individuals. Just under a quarter (24%) of all crimes reported were crimes involving violence (robbery and assault), slightly lower than the figure of 25% found in the 2000 SCS for crime in 1999. This decrease in the proportion of crime relates less to a decrease in violent crime but more to increases in other forms of crime, notably vandalism. Vandalism of property increased from representing 12 per cent of crime reported to the SCS in 1999 to 17 per cent in 2002. Similarly vehicle vandalism increased from 14 per cent to 17 per cent in 2002. In sum, Figure 2.1 simply shows each crime type as a proportion of all crime, but does not reflect the actual extent of crime.
Figure 2.1: Crime in Scotland in 2002 by offence
Notes
1. Source: 2003 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=5,041
Each individual offence will now be discussed in more detail. Full details of the estimates, incidence rates and confidence intervals for all offences can be found in tables A.2.1 and A.2.2. in Appendix A.
Property and personal theft
Forty-two per cent of all crimes reported to the 2003 SCS involved the theft or attempted theft of property. These crimes can be divided into theft against households (housebreaking, other household theft, and theft from and of a motor vehicle) and personal theft (theft from the person and other personal theft). The SCS estimates that between 281,000 and 443,000 incidents of household theft occurred in Scotland in 2002, the 'best estimate' being 362,000. For personal theft, the 'best estimate' is 128,000, with the true value lying between 91,000 and 165,000.
Details of the estimates of the number of property thefts, including the confidence intervals are detailed in Figure 2.2, but in sum, the estimates are:
- 87,000 incidents of housebreaking, including attempted housebreaking. This includes 37,000 incidents where something was stolen. Using only those cases where we know whether something was stolen or not, we can see that in 57 per cent of incidents of housebreaking, nothing was stolen.
- 20,000 incidents of theft of a motor vehicle; 89,000 incidents of theft from a motor vehicle; and 28,000 incidents of attempted theft either of or from a motor vehicle.
- 29,000 incidents of bicycle theft.
- 109,000 incidents of 'other household theft'.
- 24,000 incidents of theft from the person, including all actual or attempted pick-pocketing.
- 105,000 incidents of 'other personal theft' (that is personal property stolen from outwith the home where there was no direct contact between the offender and the victim).
Figure 2.2: Estimated number of property offences in 2002 (with confidence intervals)
Note:
1. Source: 2003 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=5,041
Vandalism
In 2002 there were an estimated 363,000 incidents of vandalism in Scotland in 2002, with the true figure lying between 323,000 and 403,000. This represents a rate of 1,656 incidents per 10,000 households in Scotland. There were a similar number of incidents of vandalism against motor vehicles (181,000) as against property (182,000).
Violence
The SCS's definition of violence is a sum of all incidents of assault and robbery. The best estimate of the total number of violent offences in 2002 is 240,000, with the true figure lying between 187,000 and 293,000.
There were an estimated 220,000 incidents of assault in 2002. The vast majority of these were incidents of petty assault (174,000, representing 79%), the rest serious (an estimated 46,000 incidents).
Robbery is a relatively rare offence. In 2002 there were an estimated 19,000 offences. All violent crime and the associated confidence intervals can be seen in Figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3: Estimated number of violent crimes in 2002 (with confidence intervals)
Note:
1. Source: 2003 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=5,041
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