Crime Victimisation in Northern Ireland: Findings From the 2003/04 Northern Ireland Crime Survey

Author(s): B. French and P. Campbell (Northern Ireland Office)
Document Type: Bulletin
Year: 2005
Publisher: Northern Ireland Office (NIO)
Place of Publication: Belfast
Subject Area(s): Criminal Justice, Crime, Community

Abbreviations: NI - Northern Ireland, NICS - Northern Ireland Crime Survey, BCS - British Crime Survey

Background to the Research

  • The NICS is a major source of information about levels of crime and public attitudes to crime.
  • This bulletin focuses on crime victimisation rates in NI for crimes affecting the whole household and personal crime against respondents only. It contains comparisons with the findings from NICS 1998, NICS 2001, and BCS 2003/04 (the equivalent survey for England and Wales).

Research Approach

  • The survey comprised data given during personal interviews that were carried out with 3,104 adults living in private households throughout NI.
  • For the most part, the interviewer-administered modules for NICS 2003/04 were based on BCS 2003/04 and the self-completion modules on BCS 2001/02. However, some modification was necessary to reflect local issues. Respondents were asked to recall all relevant incidents in the 12-month period prior to the interview.

Main Findings

  • 21.4% of respondents and their households were victims of at least one crime during the 12 months prior to interview, up 1.7 percentage points on the equivalent figure for NICS 2001, but 1.6 percentage points lower than that for NICS 1998.
  • An estimated 295,000 incidents of crime occurred during the 12 month recall periods for NICS 2003/04, up 13% on NICS 2001 (262,000). While the number of property-related incidents increased from 188,000 to 221,000, that for violent crime remained at 74,000.
  • The increase in the NICS crime victimisation rate may seem inconsistent with the 10.2% fall in the level of crime recorded by police, from 142,49 in 2002/03 to 127,953 in 2003/04, however, it is important to note that recorded crime remains higher than it was in 2000/01 (119, 912) and the 12-month recall periods for most NICS 2003/04 respondents commenced during 2002/03.
  • 41% of all NICS 2003/04 crimes were reported to the police. Theft of a vehicle was most likely to be reported (89%), followed by burglary with entry (86%), all burglary (75%) wounding (67%), all vehicle-related theft (57%) and theft from a vehicle (50%).
  • Victims of crime cited the most common reasons for not reporting crime to the police as 'too trivial/no loss' (33%), 'police could not have done anything' (32%), and 'police would not have been bothered/interested' (24%).
  • Increases occurred between NICS 2001 and 2003/04 in the proportions of households victimised by vandalism (from 6.4% to 7.1%), vehicle vandalism (from 3.4% to 3.6%), other vandalism (from 3.3% to 3.8), all vehicle-related theft (from 5.0% to 5.2%), theft from a vehicle (from 2.0% to 2.6%) and domestic burglary (2.0% to 2.4%). Decreases occurred in the victimisation rates for theft of a vehicle (from 1.4% to 1.2%), attempted theft of or from a vehicle (from 1.7% to 1.5%) and other household theft (from 3.9% to 3.4%). None of these changes were statistically significant.
  • The risk of becoming a victim of crime was higher in Belfast (32%) than in the East (20%) or West (19%) of NI. Belfast respondents were also more likely to be the victim of more than one crime (14%) than those in the East or West regions (both 7%).
  • There were increases between NICS 2001 and NICS 2003/04 in the proportions of adults falling victim to common assault (from 2.1% to 2.6%), stealth theft from the person (from 0.3% to 1.0%) and mugging (from 0.4% to 0.6%). A decrease occurred in the victimisation rate for wounding (from 1.1% to 0.5%). The changes in stealth theft from the person and wounding were statistically significant.
  • The most likely NICS 2003/04 victims of domestic burglary were based in Belfast (4.7%) or contained heads of household that were aged 16-24 (4.3%) or were single with child(ren) (4.4%). Other respondents with above average rates for domestic burglary included: those living in an area of high disorder/ant-social behaviour (3.9%); people who don't own their own homes (3.8% for social renters and 3.5% for private renters); and householders aged 75 and over (3.4%).
  • Vehicle-owning households at most risk of vehicle-related theft were those: living in Belfast (12.3%); where the head of household was unemployed (12.1%); containing head of household aged 16-24 (11.5%); that owned three or more vehicles (11.4%); who privately rented (11.1%); with an income of less than £5,000 (10.0%); or living in an area of high disorder/anti-social behaviour (9.8%).
  • A comparison between NICS 2003/04 and BCS 2003/04 shows that, while the risk of becoming a victim of crime remains lower in NI (21.4%) than in England or Wales (25.7%), the gap has narrowed. Whereas the victimisation rate in NI increased between NICS 2001 and 2003/04, that in England and Wales fell between BCS 2001 and BCS 2003/04 from 27.5% to 25.7%.
  • The results of BCS 2003/04 and NICS 2003/04 show that England and Wales had higher victimisation rates for both household crime (20.0% v 16.1% in NI), and personal crime, including violent and personal theft offences (7.3% v 6.3%). The largest differential occurred in all vehicle-related theft, with rates for vehicle owners being 9.7% in England and Wales and 6.6% in NI.
  • Among the more likely NICS 2003/04 respondents to be a recent victim of a violent crime were: people who had visited a pub/bar more than 3 times per week in the last month (13.9%); those living in an area with high physical disorder/anti-social behaviour (8.3%); single adults with children (8.3%); young women aged 16-24 (7.9%); single people (7.7%); and young men aged 16-24 (6.5%).

 

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