O ve rvie w
Perso nal crime refers to crimes presenting a direct perso nal threat o f harm to individuals.
They invo lve different types o f co st in co mpariso n with pro perty crimes. W hereas much o f the co st o f a pro perty crime will invo lve lo ss o f o r damag e to pro perty, the majo rity o f co sts arising fro m perso nal crimes invo lve physical and emo tio nal pain and suffering , lo st o utput and health service co sts. The respo nse o f the criminal justice system is likely to be mo re severe per incident than fo r pro perty crimes, which at least partly reflects the g reater impact o f mo st perso nal crimes o n victims. Table 4 .4 g ives a summary o f averag e co st estimates fo r different perso nal crimes. Estimates fo r serio us wo unding s have been used fo r all o ffences in the “ mo re serio us vio lence ag ainst the perso n” categ o ry. Estimates fo r o ther wo unding s have been used fo r all o ffences in the “ less serio us vio lence ag ainst the perso n” categ o ry.
3 9 Estimates and analysis
Table 4.4: Average cost estimates for all personal crimes
Categ o ry o f co st Best estimate (£ per incident)
All VAP excluding Mo re Less Sexual Co mmo n Ro bbery/
Ho micide ho micide serio us VAP serio us VAP o ffences assault Mug g ing
In anticipation of crime 0 2 10 0 2 0 40
Defensive expenditure - 2 1 0 0 2 0 0
Insurance administratio n - - - 4 0
As a consequence of crime 1,100,000 15,000 120,000 730 15,000 270 3,300
Physical and emo tio nal impact 7 0 0 ,0 0 0 1 2 ,0 0 0 9 7 ,0 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 ,0 0 0 2 4 0 2 ,4 0 0
Value o f pro perty sto len - - - 3 3 0
Pro perty damag ed/ destro yed - - - 3 0
Pro perty reco vered - - - -5 0
Victim services 4 ,7 0 0 6 6 6 2 0 6 6
Lo st o utput 3 7 0 ,0 0 0 2 ,0 0 0 1 4 ,0 0 0 4 0 0 2 ,0 0 0 2 0 4 2 0
Health services 6 3 0 1 ,2 0 0 8 ,5 0 0 2 0 0 1 ,2 0 0 - 1 9 0
In response to crime 22,000 2,700 13,000 1,300 3,900 270 1,400
Po lice activity 1 1 ,0 0 0 1 ,4 0 0 6 ,7 0 0 6 2 0 1 ,9 0 0 1 3 0 6 8 0
Pro secutio n 4 1 0 5 0 2 5 0 2 0 6 0 5 2 0
Mag istrates co urts 1 0 0 1 0 6 0 6 7 1 4
Cro wn co urt 7 2 0 9 0 4 4 0 4 0 1 8 0 9 4 0
Jury service 9 0 1 0 6 0 5 2 0 1 7
Leg al aid 1 ,1 0 0 1 3 0 6 5 0 6 0 2 0 0 1 0 6 0
N o n leg al-aid defence 2 5 0 3 0 1 5 0 1 0 5 0 4 2 0
Pro batio n Service 4 3 0 5 0 2 6 0 2 0 6 0 5 2 0
Priso n Service 4 ,2 0 0 5 2 0 2 ,6 0 0 2 4 0 1 ,2 0 0 5 0 4 5 0
O ther CJS co sts 1 ,7 0 0 2 2 0 1 ,1 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0 2 0 7 0
Criminal injuries co mpensatio n admin 2 ,0 0 0 2 5 0 1 ,2 0 0 1 1 0 - 2 0
-TOTAL cost per incident 1,100,000 18,000 130,000 2,000 19,000 540 4,700
N o tes: 1 . Fig ures may no t sum to to tal due to ro unding ; 2 . VAP = Vio lence ag ainst the perso n.
40 The economic and social costs of crime
Ho micide
Ho micide includes o ffences o f murder, manslaug hter and infanticide. Attempted murder and threat o r co nspiracy to murder fall under vio lence ag ainst the perso n in this study.
The vast majo rity o f co sts fo r ho micide are the physical and emo tio nal co sts. These co sts c o uld b e mo re a c c ura tely desc rib ed a s the a mo unt so c iety is willing -to -pa y to a vo id a fatality. The averag e co sts o f lo st o utput are also hig h, reflecting the pro ductive po tential lo st to so ciety thro ug h murder. Po lice co sts are estimated at almo st £ 1 1 ,0 0 0 per incident o n averag e, and priso n co sts at o ver £ 4 ,0 0 0 , altho ug h fo r so me cases these fig ures will be sig nificantly hig her.
The emo tio na l a nd physic a l impa c t estima te is b a sed o n respo nses to q uestio ns a b o ut reductio ns in the risk o f ro ad traffic accidents rather than ho micide. There are also inherent difficulties in reaching estimates in this area. The uncertainty aro und the estimate means that any co nclusio ns drawn must necessarily be tentative. classified as “ mo re serio us o ffences” in Criminal Statistics 1 9 9 8 are assumed to have the same co st as serio us wo unding s, and o ther o ffences classified as “ less serio us o ffences” are assumed to have the same co st as o ther wo unding s. Co mmo n assault has been categ o rised separately.
Very little evidenc e c o uld b e fo und o f mea sures to reduc e the risk o r c o nseq uenc es o f victimisatio n. This is pro bably because measures taken o ften invo lve chang es in behavio ur rather than expenditure o n physical security o r o n insurance ag ainst the risk o f vio lent crime.
These c ha ng es in b eha vio ur a re diffic ult to va lue. The ma rket fo r perso na l a la rms wa s estimated at £ 2 millio n per year by Mintel (1 9 9 9 ). This co mpares with aro und £ 2 5 0 millio n fo r vehicle security.
Se xual o ffe nce s
It is extremely difficult to describe all the impacts o f sexual o ffences, let alo ne to put a co st o n the impact o n the victim. N evertheless, it is impo rtant to at least attempt to do so , in o rder to ensure that sufficient prio rity is g iven to sexual o ffences co mpared with o ther kinds o f crime. The co st estima tes g iven in Ta b le 4 .4 a re currently b a sed o n the estima te fo r
4 1 Estimates and analysis
wo unding . W e do no t think it is acceptable in the lo ng term, because sexual o ffences are entirely different in nature and impact o n victims.3 1 Ho wever we have included the estimate based o n wo unding to ensure the analysis co nsiders the severity o f sexual o ffences – even tho ug h this is likely to be an under-estimate. The alternative is to exclude the impact o f se xua l o ffe nc e s a lto g e the r, whic h we think wo uld b e a n irre spo nsib le o missio n. N e w research to impro ve o ur understanding o f the victim trauma sho uld be a prio rity, altho ug h it is no t clear that current research techniques are capable o f adequately dealing with this area.
The estimates o f criminal justice co sts fo r sexual o ffences are likely to be mo re ro bust than estimates o f the emo tio nal and physical impacts fo r sexual o ffences. Even here, since o ur estima te is b a sed o n to ta l CJS c o sts divided b y the estima ted numb er o f o ffenc es, o ur number o f o ffences estimate – which is itself unlikely to be an accurate reflectio n o f true levels and rates o f victimisatio n – will affect the CJS co st.
Ro bbe ry
Ro bbery is defined in Criminal Statistics 1 9 9 8 as “ the use o r threat o f fo rce to a perso n immediately befo re o r at the time o f a theft” (p2 7 5 ). O nly ro bberies ag ainst individuals have been co unted here – ro bberies where the theft was fro m co mmercial o r public secto r targ ets are included in the sectio n o n co mmercial and public secto r victimisatio n .
Ro b b e ry is a uniq ue o ffe nc e c a te g o ry a s it c o mb ine s e le me nts o f b o th p ro p e rty a nd p e rso na l c rime s. It is g e ne ra lly g ro up e d w ith p e rso na l c rime s d ue to the p e rc e ive d serio usness o f the perso nal vio lence aspect o f the o ffence. This study, sho wing the averag e co st o f a ro bbery to be aro und £ 4 ,7 0 0 per incident, larg ely bears that decisio n.
An estimated 1 6 .4 %3 2 o f ro bberies invo lve cuts and/ o r bro ken bo nes – vio lence that in the British C rime Surve y is b ro a dly e q uiva le nt to tha t o f a wo unding . The e stima te o f the physical and emo tio nal impact o f ro bbery is based o n an averag e using the co mbined wo unding estimate fo r this 1 6 .4 %, and the British Crime Survey questio n o n victims’ desired co mpensatio n3 3(Hales and Stratfo rd, 1 9 9 9 ) fo r the remainder. If we assume that the injuries in these 1 6 .4 % o f ro bberies co rrespo nd to serio us wo unding s, the estimate o f the physical and emo tio nal impact jumps fro m £ 2 ,4 0 0 to £ 3 0 ,0 0 0 . This hig hlig hts the po ssibility that the best estimate fo r the averag e co st o f a ro bbery may be to o lo w.
4 2
The economic and social costs of crime
3 1 There may be sig nificant impacts invo lved in sexual o ffences that are no t included in the wo unding estimates, o r a g iven incident with a sexual mo tive co uld be mo re distressing than a similar incident with no sexual mo tive.
Sexual o ffences co uld, o n averag e, invo lve mo re serio us emo tio nal and physical impacts than wo unding s.
3 2 Based o n unpublished analysis o f the 1 9 9 8 o f the BCS, undertaken by the British Crime Survey team.
3 3 See Appendix 3 , emo tio nal and physical impact, fo r details.
At aro und £ 1 ,4 0 0 per incident o n averag e, ro bberies also impo se a sig nificant co st o n the criminal justice system. Aro und £ 3 0 0 o n averag e is sto len and no t reco vered o r damag ed, and lo st o utput (thro ug h time o ff wo rk) adds up to aro und £ 4 0 0 per incident, altho ug h this rises to o ver £ 4 ,0 0 0 if the hig h estimate is used.
Co mmo n assault
Co mmo n assault became a no tifiable o ffence in the co unting rule chang es o f April 1 9 9 8 . This categ o ry also includes assault o n a co nstable.
O ver half the £ 5 4 0 per co mmo n assault is incurred as a respo nse to the o ffence by the criminal justice system. The emo tio nal and physical impact is estimated at aro und £ 2 4 0 per o ffence, with lo st o utput co sting a further £ 2 0 and victim suppo rt co sting aro und £ 6 per incident o n averag e.