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Understanding the impact of crime on society through data

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Just as the nature of crime evolves, so must the data sources we rely on to capture its true nature and extent. If you’ve listened to the media you may have got the impression that overall crime in England and Wales is at record levels, but do the statistics back that up, or has crime actually been falling? Or is it the case that the nature of crime has simply changed over the last few decades, meaning we’re now more likely to be targeted online than in the streets? 

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Understanding the impact of the pandemic on crime

Met Police officers on duty during the pandemic

The impact of lockdown restrictions on levels of crime is one of the lesser told stories of the coronavirus pandemic. With large parts of the population asked to stay in their homes, so-called traditional crimes such as burglary and robbery decreased. However, this was offset by rises in fraud as criminals exploited changing behaviours and more reliance of online and phone services. Meghan Elkin explains how the first comparable figures to before the pandemic help us understand whether there are sustained impacts on levels of crime.

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How the ONS crime figures help us to better understand the risks to children

A young boy is sitting on a swing set and looking at a shadow figure of a man or bully at a playground

In 2018 the Children’s Commissioner’s Office in England highlighted the need for better data on the numbers of children living in households where adult domestic abuse, mental ill-health or substance misuse may be present. Sophie Sanders explains how the Office for National Statistics has developed its first analysis to help better understand how the presence of these issues could impact on childhood vulnerability.

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