Police Information

Britain is ‘Assault’ Capital

Thu, May 17, 2001

Source:

VIOLENT crime is rising faster in England and Wales than anywhere else in Europe.

Britain is the ‘Assault’ Capital of the World

VIOLENT crime is rising faster in England and Wales than anywhere else in Europe, new figures revealed.

Robberies and assaults rose by 16 per cent in 1999compared with five per cent across the rest of the Europe. Overall levels of violence were far higher in Britain than in countries of comparable size.

There were 703,000 assaults recorded by police in 1999 - more than twice the number only four years earlier. This compared with 186,000 in Germany and 216,000 in France. The risk of assault, while low, is higher in Britain than almost anywhere else in the industrialised world, including America being beaten only by Australia.

International crime comparisons released by the Home Office showed that the British also faced a far greater risk of being burgled despite recent falls in property crime. Between 1995 and 1999, break-ins dropped by 30 per cent but still remained above 400,000. In France, by contrast, there were 191,000 burglaries and in Germany, a country of 82 million people, there were 142,000.

The rate of decrease is slowing in Britain. Between 1998 and 1999, there was a six per cent fall in burglaries while France registered an eight per cent fall and Germany 11 per cent. The chances of having a car stolen were also higher in Britain than almost anywhere in Europe.

On the eve of an election in which law and order will feature prominently, ministers have been anxious to claim that crime is falling. However, most of this decline took place under the Tories. Between 1997 and 1999, the total number of recorded crimes went up by almost 800,000 at a time when numbers in France and Germany were virtually stable and in America were falling dramatically.

Mr Clarke said the Government relied more on the British Crime Survey as "a more accurate reflection of crime levels and trends". He said it showed a greater decline than that shown in the recorded crime figures, especially where violent crime was concerned.

Mr Clarke said: "There is little doubt that the recorded figures demonstrate a much greater willingness of victims to report crimes of violence, and for the police to record them. Comparing the recorded crime statistics of different countries is also always difficult because of a wide variation in recording practices, counting rules and offence definitions."

But whatever gloss the Government tried to place on the statistics, they showed Britain to be one of the most crime-ridden countries in the industrialised world. The report's authors said: "Of the 17 countries examined, England and Wales had well above average levels of property and contact crime - ie robbery, assault and sexual assault."

High crime levels in Britain also means that rates of imprisonment are greater than elsewhere in the EU. In England and Wales, the rate is 125 per 100,000 population and in Scotland 118. Only Portugal has a higher rate in the EU.

Ironically whilst violent crime is on the increase homicide rates are lower in Britain than elsewhere. In England and Wales, the rate is 1.45 per 100,000 compared with 1.63 in France, 1.28 in Germany and 2.60 in Spain.

London has one of the lowest homicide rates among the world's major cities. The least safe included in the Home Office survey were Washington DC, Pretoria, Moscow and Tallinn in Estonia.