NCJ Number
232682
Date Published
December 2010
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This report presents the latest (2009) statistics on the proven offending of individuals (aged 18 and over) in England and Wales identified as Class A drug-misusing offenders.
Abstract
For the national cohort of drug-misusing offenders identified in January to March 2009, the rate of offending was 2.2 offenses per individual. This was 15-percent lower compared to the equivalent cohort for 2008. This lower offending rate resulted from both lower prevalence and lower frequency of offending. Fifty-seven percent of the 2009 cohort committed a proven offense during the 12 months following identification, compared with 61 percent of the 2008 cohort. Seventeen percent of the 2009 cohort who offended five or more times during the 12-month follow-up accounted for 62 percent of all cohort offending. Theft was the most common type of offense, accounting for 43 percent of all offenses committed by the 2009 cohort in the follow-up period. Males constituted 83 percent of the 2009 drug-misusing offender cohort; 66 percent were under age 35, and 84 percent were White. Offending rates were higher for females compared with males. This was true for those ages 18-35 compared with older age groups, as well as for White offenders compared with those from other ethnic backgrounds. The local measure of proven offending among drug misusers is presented as the actual number of offenses divided by the predicted number of offenses. 9 figures, 4 references, and appended main results for the 2009 local cohorts, description of how drug-related offending is measured, and a statement on data quality