ethnicity and crime statistics uk 2020
, See Appendix I for further details of how detailed ethnicity categorisations are aggregated.
Arrests declined 21% and 22%, respectively, for White and Black adult suspects, a higher rate than other ethnic groups.
The total prison population in England and Wales was 79,000 on 30th June 2020, the lowest in 14 years. The latest data available during the compilation of this report have been included. As such, analysis which relies on the 2011 Census data has not been included.
, A long criminal history is defined as 15 or more previous cautions or convictions.
Adam Graycar Director Satyanshu Mukherjee S
Asian offenders had a longer ACSL for drug offences compared to all other ethnic groups, which ranged from 31.8 to 39.8 months. , Arrests analysis excludes Lancashire as they could not supply complete data for 2017/18. RRI analysis shows that defendants from Mixed and Chinese or Other ethnic groups were not significantly more or less likely to be sentenced to immediate custody compared to White defendants, and Black and Asian defendants were 6% and 4% less likely to be sentenced to immediate custody in comparison with White defendants respectively. Ministry of Justice, 3rd Floor, 10 South Colonnade, London, E14 4PU, General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice can be e-mailed to: ESD@justice.gov.uk, The structure and content of this report is continually being reviewed to reflect user requirements.
, Further custody rate figures can be found here: Criminal justice system statistics quarterly: December 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), The overall increase in ACSL may be due to a change in sentencing guidelines.
Figure 7.04: Average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for indictable offences, by age and ethnicity, England and Wales, 2016/20.
Principal suspects in homicides with all other ethnicities were most likely to be a stranger (Black 43%, Asian 28%, Other 65%).
The Gangs Debate. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS): The ethnic background of the CPS, where ethnicity was known, has remained broadly similar between 2016 and 2020[footnote 92]. National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value. Similar proportions were seen across ethnic groups, ranging from 72% for Black defendants to 78% for White defendants. In 2020, the custody rate for possession of weapons offences was highest for Black and Mixed offenders at 38%, the custody rate for White offenders was 36%, and 29% for both Asian and Chinese or Other offenders.
It offers insights into the experience of victims which other sources of data, such as police records, may not capture[footnote 9]. Conversely, higher proportions of clients from ethnic minority groups received representation for indictable trials at 30% for Asian, 36% for Black and 36% for Mixed compared to 27% for White. Insight Published Friday, 02 October, 2020 Insight Criminal law Justice Baber Yasin Georgina Sturge This Insight looks at how different ethnic groups compared statistically in areas such as convictions, sentencing lengths, types of offence, pleas and at the bench in 2019 across England and Wales. Of offenders receiving either type of order, 84% were White, 6% Black, 5% Asian, 3% Mixed ethnic groups and 1% Chinese or Other ethnic groups.
Of all children sentenced to immediate custody in the last 5 years, White children had the shortest ACSL at 16.8 months and Mixed children had the longest ACSL at 21.1 months.
These research outputs are not official statistics on the population.
This publication compiles statistics from data sources across the Criminal Justice System (CJS), to provide a combined perspective on the typical experiences of different ethnic groups, how outcomes vary between groups and how this has changed over time. Main facts and figures in the year ending March 2020, 13% of people aged 16 and over said they had been the victim of a crime at least once in the last year this was down from 17% in the.
The proportion of offender reoffending by age was highest for those aged 18 to 20 for Black, Asian and Other offenders.
Prior to 2019/20, Chinese arrests are counted within Other Ethnic Group.
Similar to trends in adults, children from the Asian ethnic group (3%) were significantly less likely to be victim of personal crime than those from the White ethnic group (7%).
For example, the proportion of Black and Asian young offenders sentenced to 12 months custody or less, achieving any pass at GCSE, was 64% and 71% respectively, significantly higher than the proportion of White young offenders, at 53%.
A contributing factor to the long ACSL for Asian offenders is due to the high proportions of Class A drug related offences.
Of all offenders sentenced in 2020, the most common outcome was a fine, at 38%. In 2020, 70% of the legally aided prison law workload related to White defendants, 11% to Black, 8% to Other, 6% to Mixed and 5% to Asian. The proportion of White children remanded at Crown Court has been increasing over the last 5 years from 26% in 2016 to 45% in 2020, converging with the proportion of children remanded in custody from minority ethnic groups.
Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 states that: The Secretary of State shall in each year publish such information as they consider expedient for the purpose of facilitating the performance of those engaged in the administration of justice to avoid discriminating against any persons on the ground of race or sex or any other improper ground. The largest proportionate decrease was seen in the White and Black ethnic groups (-18% and -17% respectively).
Figure 5.03: Proportions of remand status by ethnic groups at Crown Court, 2020, England and Wales.
This is expected given the more diverse population of London. , Data is self-declared from HR records, as at 31 December 2020.
In the year ending March 2022, approximately 548,000 males, and 96,000 females were arrested for offences in England and Wales, which was more than in the previous year for both males and. Time spent at court increased in 2020 from previous years for all ethnic groups and offences, due to restrictions in response to COVID-19[footnote 47].
The CSEW is a large nationally representative survey that asks people about their experience as a victim of a crime in the previous 12 months. Figure 3.02: Homicides currently recorded by location of homicide and ethnic appearance of victim: England and Wales, combined data for 2017/18 to 2019/20. Her Majestys Inspectorate of Prisons for England & Wales (HMI Prisons) aims to ensure independent inspection of places of detention, report on conditions and treatment, and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Since 2015/16 there have been statistically significant decreases in reports of victims of crimes seen in the Black (from 7 to 4%) and Asian (from 4 to 2%) ethnic groups. A copy of this statement can be found at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/mojstats/statistics-revisions-policy.pdf. Of children, 4 to 6% were reported as being victims in Black, Mixed and Chinese or Other ethnic groups. A higher proportion of prosecutions for Black and Mixed ethnic groups were against children, 12% and 14% respectively, compared to 5% for White defendants.
It is important to note that for the majority of the report, no controls have been applied for other characteristics of ethnic groups (such as average income, geography, offence mix or offender history), so it is not possible to determine what proportion of differences identified in this report are directly attributable to ethnicity.
For this reason, comparisons over time for the Asian and Other ethnic group should be made with caution.
However, these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems and surveys generated by the courts, police forces and other agencies, so some care should be taken, in particular when considering small differences and or sample sizes.
It investigates the differences between ethnic groups[footnote 81] for these offences, and whether this picture has changed over time. Unrounded figures can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet tables and published source data. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained and reinstated when standards are restored. This varied by ethnic group; in 2020, 81% of White offenders who were remanded in custody went on to receive an immediate custodial sentence, compared to 79% of Asian offenders and 70% of Black offenders .
A larger proportion of White defendants (24%) received representation at magistrates court compared to all other ethnic groups, with the lowest proportion at 16% for Asian defendants.
Individuals from the Black ethnic group also had the lowest proportion of suspended sentences, at 14% in 2020.
the officer found what they were searching for), and those where the item found was not what the officer was searching for, or where nothing was found.
, See Appendix II for concordance in ethnicity reporting between these sources, More information on Relative Rate Indexes can be found in the technical guide. Number. When controlling for offence mix across ethnic groups, a decrease in ACSL was observed across all ethnic groups. Similarly, prisoners of Mixed ethnic groups made up 12% of all prisoners under 18, yet only accounting for 5% of the entire prison population.
The greatest disparity appears at the point of stop and search, custodial remands and prison population. White prisoners reported more positive relationships with staff, with 80% reporting feeling that they were treated with respect by staff, in comparison to 63% of prisoners from Mixed ethnic groups.
* Possession (Class B, excluding cannabis)
More detailed information on the reforms can be found at the following: SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years.
In 2020/21, White suspects accounted for 76% of arrests, 10% were for Black suspects, 8% were for Asian suspects, 4% were for Mixed ethnicity suspects and 2% were for Other ethnicity suspects.
Documents fulfilling this requirement have been published since 1992, in the form of statistical reports. 1.
In contrast, despite White prisoners making up 73% of the entire prison population, only 47% of prisoners aged under 18 were White.
Between 2017/18 and 2019/20, almost half (49%) of homicide victims aged 15 to 17 and 37% of victims aged 18 to 20 were from the Black ethnic group.
Five-year trends have been presented wherever possible.
Figure 5.06: Relative Rate Index (RRI): The custodial sentencing rate for defendants expressed as a proportion of the of the overall sentencing rate for all defendants sentenced for indictable offences, 2016 to 2020, England and Wales.
In 2019/20, an estimated 6% of children were a victim of a personal crime once or more, based on findings from the CSEW.
, Data from 2019/20 for the Asian (or Asian British) ethnic group includes people who identify as Chinese. Guilty plea rate (GPR) has increased across all ethnic groups across the past 5 years, showing a sharp rise since 2018.
Cases where ethnicity was not known have not been included in this commentary. Wed like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. This was the only region in which homicide victims were more likely to be from the Black ethnic group (42%), followed by White ethnic group (40%). The proportion of young offenders persistently absent was higher for White, Black and Asian ethnic groups receiving a custodial sentence compared to the total sentenced/ convicted. A 21% decrease was seen in requirements started under suspended sentence orders. Similarly, for children, a higher proportion of child offenders in the Asian and Chinese or Other ethnic groups were first time offenders.
, Ethnicity is self-identified, and coverage has decreased from 93% in 2016/17 to 86% in 2020/21. There was a corresponding increase in stop and searches conducted on Asian suspects (15% to 19%) whilst all other ethnic groups remained relatively constant. , All groups defined by officer-identified ethnicity classification see Appendix I. Where a source is not National Statistics, users should consider this when making judgements about the weight that can be put on related findings. There are various reasons why the police may carry out a stop and search, for example they may suspect an individual is carrying drugs or a weapon. , For more information, see Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2020.
Within ethnic groups, Black defendants had the largest proportion of prosecutions for this offence in each of the past 5 years.
Of those who received a suspended sentence order, higher proportions of White and Mixed ethnicity offenders received rehabilitation requirements[footnote 60], whereas higher proportions of Black, Asian and Chinese or Other ethnicity offenders received unpaid work requirements.
1.
A greater number of children in prison were from minority ethnic groups. Following prosecution (which can include being sent to Crown Court), defendants found guilty are subsequently convicted and sentenced.
Over the last five years the proportion of children from ethnic minority groups sentenced to immediate custody has increased from 36% in 2016 to 43% in 2020. This decrease was also significant for White (down 44%), Black (down 80%) and Asian (down 67%) children, in isolation.
Among minority ethnic groups, Black individuals were often the most over-represented. Over the last 5 years, there has been a decrease in the proportion of stop and searches conducted on Black individuals in London, from 36% in 2016/17 to 32% in 2020/21. The proportion of police officers from minority ethnic groups has increased from 6.3% to 7.6% between 2017 and 2021[footnote 95].
Convictions by offence group may be influenced by factors other than ethnicity.
When ethnicity is self-reported, it is based on five broad categories: White, Black, Asian, Mixed and Chinese or Other. The following offence groups will be of particular focus: As noted in the introduction, comparisons across ethnic groups do not account for previous offending history, detailed offence mix and other offender characteristics and that should be considered when interpreting results in this section. There were statistically significant decreases in the number of victims for personal crimes since 2015/16 in the Black (from 7% to 4%) and Asian (from 4% to 2%) ethnic groups. Controlling for offence mix between ethnic groups also impacted on custody rates. Over half of young offenders sentenced or cautioned had SEN.
The Asian ethnic group (2%) were significantly less likely than the White ethnic group (4%) to be victims of a personal crime, whilst the Mixed ethnic group (7%) were significantly more likely.
This is especially apparent when comparing to the ethnic breakdown of the population of England and Wales[footnote 1]. , Available at https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/code-of-practice/, Data provided by the Home Office listing offences recorded as homicide as of 15th December 2020.
This overall increase in guilty plea rates of defendants dealt with in the latest year is due to restrictions courts faced on progressing jury trials (not-guilty pleas) as a result of the response to COVID-19.
, Self-declared from HR records reported table 3_1_JO_Appt in the Judicial Diversity Statistics, 2021 publication, the quoted figure covers all court judges; Judicial Diversity Statistics 2017.
This contrasts with the proportion of pupils in the overall population where 14% are eligible for FSM.
, There is only ever one principal suspect per homicide victim.
It is important to note when looking at more detailed offences that the Chinese or Other ethnic group accounted for only 2% of all prosecutions and convictions in 2020, therefore small changes in offending can lead to artificially high apparent increases/decreases in associated rates and percentages.
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The Chinese or Other ethnic group had the highest number of defendants remanded in custody, at 62%, whereas the White ethnic group had the lowest number of defendants remanded in custody, at 42%. In 2020, a higher proportion of prosecutions of Black and Mixed defendants were against children, 12% and 14% respectively, compared to 5% of White defendants[footnote 63].
SEN support replaces school action and school action plus but some pupils remain with these provision types in first year of transition. The total number of stop and searches, where ethnicity was known, increased between 2017/18 (266,000) and 2020/21 (557,000). In the three-year period 2017/18[footnote 13] to 2019/20, there were 1,951[footnote 14] homicides in the Home Office Homicide Index[footnote 15], where ethnicity of the victim was recorded. The homicide rate over the three-year period to year ending March 2020 was 49.5 per million population for the Black ethnic group, approximately five times higher than for the White ethnic. This chapter explores police activity by ethnicity of persons stopped and searched and/or arrested. Across the past 5 years, White defendants have consistently had the highest guilty plea rate, at 79% in 2020, compared to Black defendants at 66%. The HMPPS Offender Equalities report 2020/21 also includes information on: Mother and Baby units, Sexual Orientation in the Prison Population, Transgender Prisoners, Accredited Programmes, Incentives and Earned Privileges and Electronic Monitoring. ACSL for possession of weapons offences decreased, between 2016 and 2020, for all ethnic groups except Mixed, decreasing the largest for Asian and Black offenders.
The Asian ethnic group had a higher proportion of homicides where the principal suspect was a family member (17%) or partner/ex-partner (22%), compared to all other ethnic groups.
As observed in Chapter 5, White prisoners have consistently received the shortest ACSL in comparison to other ethnic groups.
, This figure includes 96 victims of Hillsborough and four victims of the Westminster Bridge attack in the year ending 2017, and 31 victims of the terrorist attacks that involved multiple victims, including the Manchester Arena bombing, and the London Bridge attack recorded in the year ending 2018. , Due to a change in the data collection framework in 2021, officers who identify as Chinese are now counted under the Asian ethnic group, in line with the 2011 ONS Census classifications.
The most common sentencing outcome across all ethnic groups for sexual offences was immediate custody. To meet these commitments, all of our statistical publications will: Ensure that the need for major revisions for any series are pre-announced on the Ministry of Justice website. In 2020/21, 20% of all arrests (where ethnicity is known) were made in London[footnote 34].
In 2020, White defendants spent the lowest mean number of days (156) at court, while defendants from Chinese or Other ethnic groups had the highest (199).
Please send any comments to: datausers@justice.gov.uk.
Since 2015/16, there has been a statistically significant decrease in children reporting experience as a victim of a personal crime (down 49%).
From:.
This chapter explores outcomes for defendants[footnote 38] in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) predominantly drawing on indictable offence data from the Criminal Justice Statistics quarterly: December 2020 publication. In this section, where there are statistically significant differences between groups to the 95% level, this will be stated. Since this previous period, homicides, overall, increased by 17%.