Crime

This topic area covers statistics and information relating to crime in Hull including local strategic need and service provision. Further information can also be found within Domestic Abuse under Health and Wellbeing Influences.

This page contains information from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Information is taken ‘live’ from the site so uses the latest available data from Fingertips and displays it on this page. As a result, some comments on this page may relate to an earlier period of time until this page is next updated (see review dates at the end of this page).

Headlines

• Crime and the fear of crime can have a high impact on people’s mental wellbeing, but can also affects their families and community.
• There were an average of 3,800 recorded crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour each month in Hull in 2018/19, but this decreased to around 3,600 in 2019/20 and in 2020/21 decreased further to around 3,400 per month. In 2021/22 there has been a slight increase with levels increasing to just under 3,500 per month.
• In 2021/22 over a third (38.1%) of all crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour recorded were categorised as violence and sexual offences. Around one-third of reported crimes are for violence and sexual offences, one in eight are incidents of anti-social behaviour, one in nine for crimes of public order as well as one in nine for criminal damage and arson.
• The city centre has the highest rate of crime for all the different types of crime examined. This is not particularly surprising given the large increase in the non-resident population during the day as well as a substantial night time economy. Furthermore, it also has one of the highest concentrations of shops, parked cars and cycles, which increases the opportunities for crime. It is not surprising therefore, that crime and anti-social behaviour reduced significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns.
• The rate per 1,000 of 16+ population of recorded domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes increased between 2015/16 and 2018/19, but has remained relatively stable since that peak; peaking in 2018/19 at 36.9, decreasing to 36.5 in 2019/20 and decreasing further again to 35.1 in 2021/22. During the same period rates in Yorkshire and the Humber, and England as a whole are increasing, however they remain lower than those recorded in Hull, with the 2021/22 rate for Yorkshire and the Humber being 36.2 and for England being 30.8 per 1,000 population.
• Whilst the hospital admissions for violence (including sexual violence) has decreased in Hull since 2009/10-2011/12, the decrease levelled off. For 2018/19-2020/21, there were 485 admissions (averaging over 160 per year) for violence giving a rate of 60.0 admissions per 100,000 population.
• The rate of violent offences and sexual offences increased sharply between 2010/11 and 2018/19, and whilst the rate has levelled off or slightly decreased since then, it increased between 2020/21 and 2021/22. The rates are considerably higher than England. During 2021/22, there were over 15,000 violent crimes during 2020/21 as well as 1,087 sexual offences reported.
• In 2021, there were 671 first time offenders (aged 10+ years) in Hull equating to a rate of 298 per 100,000 population which was 80% higher than England (166). The rate has been decreasing in Hull since 2017 when the rate was 364 per 100,000 population. Whilst the percentage of offenders who re-offend within a year has decreased slightly over the last three years between 2016/17 and 2019/20, the average number of offences per re-offender has increased for two of the three years with a fall in the most recent year to 2019/20. During 2019/20, 34.0% of offenders in Hull re-offended within a year compared to 25.4% for England, and these offenders committed an average of 4.44 re-offences in Hull compared to 3.74 re-offences in England.
• In 2021, there were 46 juveniles receiving their first conviction, caution or youth caution among 10-17 year olds in Hull. This equates to a rate of 192 first time entrants into the youth justice system per 100,000 population aged 10-17 years which is around one-third higher than England (147). The numbers have fallen sharply since 2010 and 2011 when they are were around 200 first time entrants into the youth justice system among 10-17 year olds. At its peak the rate was 924 per 100,000 population in 2011 so the rate has decreased considerably in Hull.
• Some changes over time can be related to better recording and focus on different crimes (such as domestic abuse), and changes to recording methods and ways of working. Clearly, the impact of the COVID-19 with lockdowns, and changes to behaviour such as working at home, less social contact, closures and restrictions on pubs will have had an influence on the crime figures for 2020 and 2021.

The Population Affected – Why Is It Important?

Unsurprisingly, research has found that the effect of local crime rates does affect the mental wellbeing of residents. Crime causes considerable mental distress of residents, and these effects are mainly driven by property crime. However, there is also an effect due to violent crime.

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (previously Public Health England) stated that individuals dependent on opioids and/or crack cocaine are responsible for an estimated 45% of acquisitive crime (shoplifting, burglary, vehicle crime and robbery), and around 40% of all violent crimes are alcohol-related. Social return on investment tools for drugs and alcohol make the case for investing in drug and alcohol treatment programmes to reduce overall crime and anti-social behaviour to reduce costs incurred by drug and alcohol issues to society and the economy.

The Hull Picture

Total Number Crimes and Types of Crimes

From Humberside Police data, there were 45,851 recorded crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour in 2018/19, 43,362 in 2019/20, 40, 273 in 2020/21, and 41,504 in 2021/22.  This ranges between 3,821 (in 2018/19) and 3,356 (in 2020/21) records per month.  Whilst the number of records had been decreasing, an increase was recorded in 2021/22 of +3.1% (1,231 addition records).  However, this increase may be something of a blip given the large decrease the year before in 2020/21 (-7.1%; 3,089 fewer records) which was likely due to Covid-19 lockdowns.  The overall trend of the past four years has been downwards.

There appears to be a strong correlation between crime and anti-social behaviour and the restrictions and lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021.  During the first COVID-19 lockdown, beginning in the last week of March 2020, levels of overall recorded crime (not including anti-social behaviour) decreased sharply, whilst records of anti-social behaviour increased.  However, levels of overall crime steadily increased – in the main due to higher levels of violence and sexual offences which peaked in July 2020 with 1,475 for this crime type alone.  Records of crime and anti-social behaviour decreased steadily from this peak, and with a second national lockdown being announced at the end of October 2020, remained on this downwards trend into the Christmas and New Year period and beyond, reaching their lowest point in February 2021.  The rates then sharply increased, reaching pre-pandemic levels by April 2021.  Although various restrictions and limits continued at different times, most legal limits on social contact were removed in England on 19 July 2021, and the final closed sectors of the economy reopened (e.g. nightclubs).  Subsequently, from this point forwards levels of anti-social behaviour can be seen to decrease whilst records of overall crime begin to increase, although both crime and anti-social behaviour records decreased sharply once again over the Christmas and New Year period, before increasing to what would appear to be normal levels in the early part of 2022.

In the last three financial years, violence and sexual offences accounted for the greatest numbers of reported crimes with on average just under 1,200 each month. On average, there were 546 cases of anti-social behaviour, 408 crimes relating to criminal damage and arson, 323 public order offences, and 319 cases of shoplifting.

Crime type	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21		2021/22	Monthly average (2021/22)
Anti-social behaviour	6,412	6,026	6,977		5,396	450
Violence and sexual offences	14,206	14,178	14,359		15,800	1,317
Public order	3,556	3,900	4,447		4,677	390
Criminal damage and arson	5,092	4,997	4,067		4,633	386
Shoplifting	4,570	3,779	2,307		2,337	195
Other theft	3,055	2,590	2,069		2,295	191
Burglary	3,055	2,895	2,200		1,865	155
Vehicle crime	2,463	1,966	1,114		1,277	106
Other crime	860	854	936		1,191	99
Bicycle theft	1,080	782	432		810	68
Drugs	550	560	726		565	47
Robbery	394	329	285		279	23
Theft from person	354	291	138		194	16
Possession of weapons	204	215	216		185	15
Total	45,851	43,362	40,273		41,504	3,459

Whilst anti-social behaviour accounted for 17.3% of all recorded crime and anti-social behaviour in 2020/21, this decreased to 13.0% in 2021/22.  Violence and sexual offences accounted for the greatest numbers of recorded crimes – around one-third of all recorded crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents (38.1% in 2021/22, an increase from 35.7% in 2020/21).  Levels of Public Order have been increasing steadily – from 7.8% of all recorded crime and anti-social behaviour in 2018/19 to 11.3% in 2021/22.  Levels of Criminal Damage and Arson have remained stable (ranging between 11.5% in 2019/20 to 10.1% in 2020/21) and in 2021/22 they accounted for 11.2% of all recorded crime and anti-social behaviour.  Levels of recorded Shoplifting have almost halved over the past four years – from 10.0% of all recorded crime and anti-social behaviour in 2018/19 to 5.6% in 2021/22.  A similar trend can be seen in levels of Other Theft, Burglary and Vehicle Crime.  The remaining crime types all account for less than 3% each in the levels of overall crime and anti-social behaviour and are stable.  The possible exception being Other Crime, which includes crimes such as forgery, perjury and other miscellaneous crime (an eclectic grouping of offences, for example (but not limited to) bail offences, wildlife crime, dangerous driving and bigamy).  Levels of Other Crime have been slowing but consistently increasing, accounting for 1.9% of all recorded crime and anti-social disorder in2018/19, to 2.9% in 2021/22.        

Crime type	2018/19 (%)	2019/20 (%)	2020/21 (%)	2021/22 (%)
Anti-social behaviour	14.0	13.9	17.3	13.0
Violence and sexual offences	31.0	32.7	35.7	38.1
Public order	7.8	9.0	11.0	11.3
Criminal damage and arson	11.1	11.5	10.1	11.2
Shoplifting	10.0	8.7	5.7	5.6
Other theft	6.7	6.0	5.1	5.5
Burglary	6.7	6.7	5.5	4.5
Vehicle crime	5.4	4.5	2.8	3.1
Other crime	1.9	2.0	2.3	2.9
Bicycle theft	2.4	1.8	1.1	2.0
Drugs	1.2	1.3	1.8	1.4
Robbery	0.9	0.8	0.7	0.7
Theft from person	0.8	0.7	0.3	0.5
Possession of weapons	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.4
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

Geographical Areas Most Affected By Crimes

The total number of crimes differ substantially across Hull. The information is available at lower layer super output area geographical level, and there are 166 such geographical areas in Hull. The rates are given as the total number of crimes in 2021/22 per 1,000 residents. This gives a reasonable way to ‘standardised’ the number of crimes for most geographical areas. However, areas with higher daytime populations (people working or shopping in those geographical areas) and/or a vibrant night time economy, those with higher numbers of cars, cycles and shops will have higher rates of crime with the higher non-resident populations, as well as the higher number of vehicles and shops which could be targeted. This is the case with the city centre.

Higher rates of recorded crime and anti-social behaviour can be seen around Central Ward (the city centre) and Avenue Ward, as well as south and westwards towards St Andrew’s and Docklands Ward. Pockets of higher rates can also be seen Orchard Park, West Carr, Holderness and Drypool wards.

Hull Data Observatory

Further information is also given for Hull on the Hull Data Observatory (opens a new window) which tends to provide more up-to-date information as it is automatically populated with new data.

First-Time Offenders and Re-offending

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Fingertips presents information on the rate of first-time offenders, and re-offending. The number of first time offenders per 100,000 population for 2021, the percentage of offenders who re-offend within one year (or within a further six months to allow the offences to be proven in court), and the average number of re-offences per re-offender for 2019/20 are all substantially higher in Hull compared to England.

The rate of first time offenders in Hull is almost double that of England (80% higher), and the percentage of offenders who re-offend is around one-third higher in Hull compared to England whereas the average number of reoffences in Hull is around one-fifth higher in Hull compared to England.

The rate of first time offenders has been quite variable, but has generally been decreasing since 2014 (although the rate in 2015 was particularly low). The number of first time offenders decreased in 2020 – perhaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic – but increased slightly in 2021. Despite this increase, the rate in Hull is lower in 2021 than it was for 2019 and following a similar decreasing trajectory as it had been doing so since 2017.

In 2021, there were 671 first time offenders in Hull.

The percentage of offenders who re-offend within one year (or within a further six months to allow the offences to be proven in court) has shown a consistent decreasing trend in Hull between 2016/17 and 2019/20.

The average number of re-offences per re-offender increased in Hull between 2016/17 and 2018/19, but decreased between 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Domestic Abuse and Violent Crime

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Fingertips also presents information on the rate of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes, and violent crime rates. For 2021/22, the rates of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes was 14% higher in Hull compared to England. The same crime rate is given for Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire – local authorities are allocated the rate of the police force area within which they sit (in this case Humberside Police). It is highly likely that the rates will differ across the local authorities.

For the three year period 2017/18-2020/21, the hospital admission rate for violence was 42% higher in Hull compared to England.

For 2021/22, the rate of violent offences was around 70% higher in Hull compared to England, and the rate of sexual offences was around 40% higher in Hull.

The rate of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes, and violent and sexual offence crimes are given as the number of crimes per 1,000 population, and the hospital admission rate is given as a directly standardised rate per 100,000 population (standardised to the European Standard Population). Further information can also be found within Domestic Abuse under Health and Wellbeing Influences.

The rate of domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes have increased in recent years, and part of this increase might be attributed to better awareness and reporting, although rates have fallen slightly in the last three years between 2018/19 and 2021/22. Further information can be found within Domestic Abuse under Health and Wellbeing Influences.

Whilst the rate of hospital admissions due to violence has decreased since 2009/10-2011/12, the decreases have been mainly in the first four to five years, and there has been little change in the rate in the more recent years with the rate remaining around 65 per 100,00 population between 2014/15-2016/17 and 2017/18-2019/20, although the rate fell slightly to 60.0 admissions per 100,000 population for for 2018/19-2020/21.

Over the three year period 2018/19-2020/21, there were 485 hospital admissions resulting from violence.

The rate of violent offences has increased considerably over time with a levelling off between 2018/19 and 2020/21. However, the rate increased between 2020/21 and 2021/22. In 2021/22, there were 15,295 violence offences giving a rate of 59.0 per 1,000 population.

The number of sexual offences per 1,000 population followed a very similar pattern, increasing sharply between 2010/11 and 2018/19. Whilst the rate fell between between 2018/19 and 2019/20 from 4.7 to 4.1 per 1,000 population, the rate has increased slightly since then.

In 2021/22, there were 1,087 sexual offences that had been reported giving a rate of 4.2 per 1,000 population.

Youth Offending

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Fingertips also presents information on the rate of first time entrants into the youth justice system (per 100,000 population), and the rates per 1,000 of young people in the youth justice system by age.

For 2021, the rate of first time entrants into the youth justice system was higher than England, as was the rate of young people aged 10-17 years in the youth justice system in Hull is 29% higher than England for 2020/21.

Whilst the rate of first time entrants into the youth justice system have decreased in Hull, they have generally been consistently higher than England. However, for the last two years, there has been no statistically significant difference between the rate in Hull and the rate in England, although the rate in Hull has been higher than in England.

The number of first time entrants into the youth justice system – currently at 45 individuals – is less than one-quarter of that of the number in 2011 when it was 220 first time entrants into the youth justice system.

The rate of young people in the youth justice system in Hull decreased sharply between 2013/14 and 2015/16, and whilst the rate increased between 2015/16 and 2016/17, the rate has generally fallen since then.

Over the period 2013/14 to 2020/21, the rate of young people entering the youth justice system has been statistically significantly higher in Hull compared to England with the exception of 2015/16.

The rate decreased by 38% between 2019/20 and 2020/21 from 5.8 to 3.6 per 1,000 population aged 10-17 years. It is possible that the COVID-19 pandemic had an influence on this fall, although there was no additional decrease for either England or across the region (over and above the continuing falling trend).

Strategic Need and Service Provision

There are a number of initiatives and multi-agency work happening around domestic abuse, violence against women and girls, and responding to problems identified by communities.

The four key objectives in Hull’s Community Safety Partnership Strategy for 2022-25 are:

• reducing serious and violent crime;
• reducing the number of offenders and reoffenders;
• support for vulnerable people and victims of crime; and
• engaged and empowered communities.

The Police and Crime Plan for Humberside 2021-24 has three aims:

• Engaged, Resilient and Inclusive Communities;
• Safer Communities; and
• Effective Organisations.

Hull’s Alcohol and Drugs Partnership Strategy 2022-2025 is primarily focussed on preventing and reducing harm to individuals; however, it is well integrated with other relevant plans and strategies that reflect the full breadth of alcohol and drug related issues across Hull. Such strategies and plans include the Safer Hull plans and programme through Community Safety Partnership, the Humberside Police Drugs Strategy, and Safeguarding and Early Help Strategies. The Government’s 10 year drug strategy, From Harm to Hope (2022) focuses on reducing crime associated with drug use and also improved treatment. Social return on investment tools for drugs and alcohol make the case for investing in drug and alcohol treatment programmes to reduce overall crime and anti-social behaviour to reduce costs incurred by drug and alcohol issues to society and the economy.

People’s circumstances can often be improved by early help, and any early help and intervention for all families should be timely, accessible and appropriate for their circumstances. Hull’s Early Help and Prevention offer is focused on a whole family approach which aims to identify individuals and families with problems and brings together different services and agencies to collectively look at what support is needed and then work together to deliver the required support in a coordinated way. The framework outlines the approach to ensure that collaboration and alignment of services, and that early help may be ‘early in life or at the earliest opportunity’ which is also part of the day job, helpful, non-stigmatising, preventative, targeted and tailored.

The COVID-19 pandemic, associated lockdowns, and changes to working and social behaviour is likely to have changed the number and type of crimes reported. With pubs, nightclubs and restaurants closed or with restrictions placed up on them during the lockdowns, this would have affected alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour. However, other crimes have been more prevalent such as domestic abuse with an increased number of calls and referrals into domestic abuse services. Following sustained local and national campaigns, domestic abuse reports rose during the pandemic and at March 2022, the number of victims receiving support has been at the highest levels ever for the city.

Resources

Dustmann, C. and F. Fasani, The effect of local area crime on the mental health of residents.  www.ucl.ac.uk. 2012, University College London: London.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (formerly Public Health England). Police and Crime Commissioner support pack 2018-19: key drug and alcohol data: Summary of area data for Police and Crime Commissioners: Kingston upon Hull. London, 2017.

Data Police UK. https://data.police.uk/

Hull Data Observatory. https://data.hull.gov.uk/crime-and-community-safety/

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Fingertips: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/

Hull’s Community Safety Partnership Strategy for 2022-25. https://www.hull.gov.uk/crime-and-safety/community-crime-and-prevention/community-safety-partnership

Police and Crime Plan for Humberside 2021-24. https://www.humberside-pcc.gov.uk/Our-Work/Police-and-Crime-Plan.aspx

UK Government, 2022. From harm to hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/from-harm-to-hope-a-10-year-drugs-plan-to-cut-crime-and-save-lives

Hull City Council. Hull Alcohol and Drugs Partnership Strategy 2022-2025. https://www.hull.gov.uk/sites/hull/files/media/Editor%20-%20Public%20health/Hull%20Alcohol%20and%20Drugs%20Strategy%202022-2025.pdf

Updates

This page was last updated / checked on 13 February 2023.

This page is due to be updated / checked in August 2023.