Summary of crime
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted levels of recorded crime, both locally and nationally.
Across Greater Manchester, offences reduced by 8% between 2019/20 and 2020/21.
In Manchester offences reduced even more - mainly due to the normal impact of the city centre and its night-time economy on crime statistics.
The pandemic led to bigger reductions in theft and robbery offences than other kinds of crime.
Crimes against the person reduced less than crimes against property, while domestic abuse in Manchester saw a small increase.
There were also signs, particularly in the early months of lockdown, that young people were experiencing increased exposure to domestic violence.
Police-recorded crime, Greater Manchester, 2016/17 to 2020/21:
| Offence Group | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal damage and arson | 37592 | 40695 | 35198 | 32353 | 29276 |
| Drug offences | 4184 | 4801 | 5432 | 6362 | 8714 |
| Miscellaneous crimes | 5215 | 7733 | 8161 | 6718 | 8158 |
| Possession of weapons offences | 1727 | 2864 | 3843 | 3654 | 3570 |
| Public order offences | 24438 | 50178 | 43208 | 31932 | 34727 |
| Robbery | 4699 | 6947 | 7605 | 6790 | 4388 |
| Sexual offences | 6823 | 9472 | 9530 | 8894 | 8778 |
| Theft offences | 115697 | 122870 | 122462 | 114856 | 79183 |
| Violence against the person | 67105 | 94113 | 98242 | 88621 | 99217 |
| Total | 267480 | 339673 | 333681 | 300180 | 276011 |
Following a change in computer systems at GMP, crime and incident data is not yet available at a local authority level.
Recorded crime in Manchester and Greater Manchester has started to increase in response to a HMICFRS report published in December 2020: 'An inspection of the service provided to victims of crime by Greater Manchester Police'.
While the pandemic and procedural changes have led to changes in levels of recorded crime, other underlying factors have remained relatively constant.