This dataset is intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for basic applications such as viewing, querying, and map output production, or to provide a basemap to support graphical overlays and analysis with other spatial data.

With a crime rate of 132.4 per 1,000 people Cleveland, in North East England, had the highest crime rate of all the police force areas in England and Wales in 2023/24. High crime rates are evident in other areas of northern England, such as West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester at 121.7 and 117.7 respectively. In the English capital, London, the crime rate was 105.1 per 1,000 people. The lowest crime rate in England was in the relatively rural areas of Wiltshire in South West England, as well as North Yorkshire. Overall crime on the in England and Wales The number of crimes in England and Wales reached approximately 6.74 million in 2022/23, falling slightly to 6.66 million in 2023/24. Overall crime has been rising steadily across England and Wales for almost a decade, even when adjusted for population rises. In 2022/23, for example, the crime rate in England and Wales was 93.6, the highest since 2006/07. When compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, England and Wales is something of an outlier, as crime rates for Scotland and Northern Ireland have not followed the same trajectory of rising crime. Additionally, there has been a sharp increase in violent crimes and sexual offences since the mid-2010s in England and Wales. While theft offences have generally been falling, the number of shoplifting offences reached a peak of 440,000 in 2023/24. Troubled justice system under pressure Alongside rising crime figures, many indicators also signal that the justice system is getting pushed to breaking point. The percentage of crimes that are solved in England and Wales was just 5.7 percent in 2023, with sexual offences having a clearance rate of just 3.6 percent. Crimes are also taking far longer than usual to pass through the justice system. In 2023, it took an average of 676 days for a crown court case to reach a conclusion from the time of the offence. This is most likely related to the large backlog of cases in crown courts, which reached over 62,200 in 2023. Furthermore, prisons in England and Wales are dangerously overcrowded, with just 1,458 spare prison places available as of June 2024.

In the 223/24 reporting year, the Cleveland police force reported a homicide rate of 22.4 homicides per million people, the highest among the provided police force areas in England in that year

Cleveland police force, in North East England, had the highest arrest rate among police forces in England and Wales in 2023/24, at 19.8 arrests per 1,000 people. Durham Police, also in the North East, had the second-highest arrest rate, at 18.4 arrests per 1,000 people, while Dorset Police Force, in South West England, had just 6.7 arrests per 1,000 population.

In the 2023/24 reporting year there were 3.1 sexual offences per 1,000 population in England and Wales, with Cleveland police force reporting the highest rate of 4.4 sexual crimes per 1,000 people.

There were almost 444,000 shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2023/24, the highest in this provided time period. Between 2002/03 and 2012/13, shoplifting offences in England and Wales fluctuated between around 280,000 and 320,000 annual offences. From 2013/14 onwards, shoplifting offences began to increase, and reached a pre-2024 peak of around 382, 607 in 2017/18, before beginning to decline again in subsequent years. The 2020/21, and 2021/20 reporting years are not directly comparable to the other reporting years due to COVID-19 lockdowns that occurred at that time. Areas with the highest shoplifting rate As of 2023/24, the shoplifting rate for England and Wales as a whole was 7.4 shoplifting offences per 1,000 population. Looking at individual police force areas, the area covered by Nottinghamshire Police Force, in the English East Midlands, had the highest shoplifting rate of 13.2, followed by Cleveland, in North East England, at 13.1. By contrast, the Dyfed-Powys Police Force Area, in Wales had the lowest shoplifting rate of just 3.9 offences per 1,000 population. Although Cleveland also had the highest overall crime rate in England and Wales, and Dyfed-Powys had one of the lowest, Nottinghamshire's crime rate was slightly below the overall average, despite having such a high shoplifting rate. Comparisons with other theft offences Shoplifting is one of the major sub-categories of theft in the jurisdiction of England and Wales. Although shoplifting offences have increased significantly recently, the number of theft offences overall has generally been falling. In 2002/03 for example, there were approximately 3.41 million incidences of theft, compared with just 1.78 million in 2023/24. This trend has been driven by declines in other types of theft, such as burglary, which fell from over 890,000 offences in 2002/03, to around 266,500 in 2023/24.

In 2023/24, the shoplifting rate in England and Wales was 7.4 shoplifting offences per 1,000 population. Among Police Force areas, Nottinghamshire, located in the English East Midlands, had the highest shoplifting rate of 13.2, followed by Cleveland in North East England, at 13.1.