NCJ Number
184761
Date Published
January 1999
Length
62 pages
Annotation
This report examines crime and safety in Southampton, England, with emphasis on night-time crime and disorder, hate crime against homosexual persons, domestic assault, racially motivated crime, crimes against children and youth, crime by children and youth, and drug abuse.
Abstract
The Southampton City Council commissioned the report. The report uses data from the police and other agencies and from the reported opinions of a cross-section of residents. The crime rate in Southampton is lower than that of many cities of similar size, although it is slightly higher than the national average. Eight percent of crimes in Southampton are violent; theft makes up the greatest proportion of property crimes. Property crime costs an estimated 125 pounds per household per year. Eighty-three percent of the 9,040 suspects interviewed by police at the main city police station in 1997 were male; more than 1 in 4 was under age 17 years. A city survey in 1996 suggested that men, younger people, black people, tenants, and persons living in the central area were more likely than others to be victims of personal crimes, including abuse, assault, and theft. The people most likely to be victims of violent crime were under age 25. Serious and fatal traffic accidents have declined 64 percent in Southampton over the last 10 years, compared to 40 percent nationally. Juvenile delinquency in Southampton is similar to that of the country as a whole; one in two young males and one in three young females admit committing at least one offense. Figures, footnotes, glossary, and appended questionnaire