ONS Report Shows General Crime Decreases, as Drug Related Offences Spike in Lockdown

Drug related offences rose by 20% in April 2020, and 44% in May 2020, compared to the same months of the previous year.

This is an additional 6,344 offences across England and Wales. The report published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), gives the first insight into how crime statistics fared during the pandemic in the UK.

The report stated that this figure represents ‘proactive police activity’ in crime heavy areas, as well as an increase in drug related stop and searches.

Data produced by the government over the last 4 years, all point to a steady increase in drug use amongst 16-59 year olds. However, during the lockdown this number sky rocketed.

The ONS data on Coronavirus and crime generally shows a decrease in crime this year during the lockdown period.

The leading statistic pulled from these records was the 19% drop (around 300,000 offences) in the number of crimes committed between April and June during 2020, compared to the previous year.

This substantial drop was triggered by the lockdown and continued social distancing measures set out by the government. Billy Gazard from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice said,

“There was a significant fall in crime at the height of the coronavirus pandemic across England and Wales. This was driven by reductions in theft offences, particularly domestic burglary and theft of personal property.”

As people were spending more time at home, there was a natural dip in crimes such as theft and home robberies. Drug-related offences were one of the only crimes to have increased in the report.

It is important to keep in mind the limitations faced when gathering these statistics however, due to difficulty of gathering primary data during a national lockdown and increased social distancing measures.