Tuesday 26 February 2013

TheBlindJournalist: Population and Crime

An increase in population, a decrease in violent crimes. Why is this?

Since the previous census in 2001, there has been an increase in population and over the previous seven years, there has been a decrease in violent crimes.

Census 2011 figures from the Office for National Statistics show that there has been a rise in the population of England and Wales 3.7 million which is the biggest increase of population since records began in 1801.

In 2011\12 in England and Wales there was a population of 56.1 million compared to 52.4 million in 2001, this was an increase of 7.1%.

Why was there this increase?
Well, it is believed that some of the main reasons for the rise are that there is now an increased life expectancy, sustained immigration and robust fertility rates.

Crime Statistics England and Wales (CSEW) show the number of violent crimes have halved since their peak in 1995.

If we look at the amount of violent crimes since 1995 there is a big decrease in domestic violence at a 21% decrease. the possible reasons for a decrease in domestic violence could be the increase in media coverage of cases and police crackdown, scaring the abusers from committing this sickening crime.

These figures were from 2011\12 however the Home Office said:
"In September 2012, we announced that the definition of domestic violence would be widened to include those aged 16-17 and wording to reflect coercive control. The new definition will be implemented in March 2013."

This could suggest that in the upcoming years due to the change, there maybe an increase again for this category.
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Sources:




Home Office source link: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/violence-against-women-girls/domestic-violence/ 


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