How to read street-level crime data without drawing the wrong conclusion
Learn how to interpret anonymised street-level crime map points, source months, outcomes and reporting gaps without treating them as exact addresses.
Read this guide →UK crime data guides
Plain-English explanations for choosing a source, reading a rate and spotting a comparison that does not hold up.
Choose a guide by the question
Each guide solves a different reading problem. Pick the one that matches the claim you want to check.
Police-recorded crime vs the Crime Survey: Which number should you use?
Compare street-level records, police-recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales, including what each source measures and omits.
Read this guide →How to compare local crime rates responsibly
Use this practical checklist to compare UK area crime rates by offence, period, population and coverage without mistaking record counts for personal risk.
Read this guide →Use three checks before quoting a figure
A useful answer names what was counted, where it was counted and when it was counted.
What does the source count?
Separate a police record, survey response, arrest, conviction and prison snapshot. They describe different events or people.
Which geography applies?
Check whether the figure covers a map point, postcode district, local authority, police force or all of England and Wales.
Which period is complete?
Keep a single month, calendar year and point-in-time stock count separate. Do not turn one into another.
Choose the guide from the question
A map point, an official national total and a survey estimate can all be accurate while describing different things. Start by identifying the event, population, geography and period you need. Then choose the source that measures those four elements rather than the source with the most dramatic number.
If you are checking a neighbourhood, begin with the street-level crime data guide before opening the UK crime map. It explains why map points are approximate, why dates are month-only and why a published outcome is not the same as a conviction.
Move from a question to evidence
For national trends or offences that may never be reported, use the guide to police-recorded crime and the Crime Survey. For a comparison between places, read how to compare local crime rates, then use either local-authority rankings or a postcode-district report.
Check unfamiliar language in the UK crime statistics glossary. The CrimeRate methodology documents the database and geographic rules, while the UK crime report directory directs national and local questions to the appropriate published evidence.
Follow every dataset to its publisher
Check the source before sharing the result
Our source register separates street-level operational data, official statistics, surveys, legislation and sentencing guidance.
See all official sources