Crime and Anti-social Behaviour in Greater London

Abstract

These visualisations seek to pinpoint irregularities in crime and ASB arising from lockdown measures in Greater London by offering a descriptive comparison to previous years. Visuals are compiled using ~4.7million records from data.police.uk covering January 2016 up to and including June 2020. Data does not include City of London Police. In April, many crime types experienced dramatic declines compared to recent years. Some of these changes were already evident in March. The stark increase in ASB can largely be attributed to lockdown breaches rather than a shift in ‘traditional’ forms of ASB, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council. In May, when lockdown rules were eased, we witnessed the beginning of a turnaround, with many crime types beginning to increase and ASB declining. These trends have tended to continue into June. That said, crimes such as burglary, shoplifting and theft from the person remain at unusually low levels. Bicycle theft has now exceeded counts in recent years. Reports suggest that the initial increase in drug offences was attributable to dealers being conspicuous on empty streets, making easy targets for arrest, rather than representing a change in drug-related activity. As such, the subsequent decline in June may be a result of people returning to public spaces, re-masking drug activity, and shifting policing resource allocation.

Publication
Statistical bulletin

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