Home Office · Historical crime data: recorded crime 1898 to 2001/02
Violence against the person, 1898 to 2001/02
Year ending March 2002 Final
650,330offences
Violence against the person, 1898 to 2001/02 were 650,330 offences in the year ending March 2002, up 8.2% (49,408) from 600,922 in the year ending March 2001.
▲ 8.2% · +49,408 against Year ending March 2001 (year on year)
Home Office count
Year ending March 2002
published 19 July 2012
Recorded crime statistics for England and Wales 1898 - 2001/02
row “2001/0269”
column “Total violence against the person”
cell value 650330
Year ending March 2002 is the highest figure in the published series: 650,330. Rule: highest of the 105 periods published here (1898 to Year ending March 2002).
1898 to Year ending March 2002
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestOne point a year is drawn; the source publishes overlapping year-ending figures, and every one is in the history table and CSVDashed line: change in coverage or methodShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value
Offences of violence against the person recorded by the police in England and Wales in a calendar year (to 1997) or year ending March (1997/98 to 2001/02), from homicide and wounding to the assault and harassment offences that became notifiable in 1998.
What this doesn’t measure
Common assault and harassment before April 1998 (not then notifiable), sexual offences, robbery, or the years from 2002/03 under the National Crime Recording Standard.
Important caveat
Historical police-recorded crime for England and Wales compiled by the Home Office from annual returns, 1898 to 2001/02. The file itself warns that "Recorded crime figures are affected by changes in levels of reporting to the police and recording by them, and this should be borne in mind when looking at long-term trends." Offence classifications were added, split and regrouped many times (the file lists 69 changes); the group totals used here are as published. From 1 April 1998 "the change to the Home Office Counting Rules for recorded crime had the effect of increasing the number of crimes counted. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable"; 1998/99 is shown on the new rules. From 1 April 2002 the National Crime Recording Standard "had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years." The modern series that follows begins in the year ending March 2003 on that new standard. Calendar years to 1997, then years ending March. The 1939 row is incomplete in the source (homicide and robbery blank; some group totals shown as zero because their components were not collected) and those cells are treated as not available.
When the way this was measured changed
A series can move because the thing being measured changed, or because the way of measuring it changed. Each change below is marked on the chart, and says what the figures meant on either side of it.
April 1998 · methodology change
Before
Offences counted under the Home Office Counting Rules as they stood before April 1998.
After
Offences counted under the widened 1998 Counting Rules, which increased the number counted.
Home Office: "the change to the Home Office Counting Rules for recorded crime had the effect of increasing the number of crimes counted. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable." Common assault, assault on a constable, harassment and possession of weapons became notifiable from this date.
April 2002 · methodology change
Before
Recording practice as it stood before the National Crime Recording Standard.
After
Recording under the National Crime Recording Standard, which increased the number of crimes recorded.
Home Office: the National Crime Recording Standard "had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years."
Revision history
No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.
Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.