Home Office · Historical crime data: recorded crime 1898 to 2001/02

Police-recorded homicide, 1898 to 2001/02

Year ending March 2002 Final

891offences

Police-recorded homicide, 1898 to 2001/02 were 891 offences in the year ending March 2002, up 4.8% (41) from 850 in the year ending March 2001.

▲ 4.8% · +41 against Year ending March 2001 (year on year)

Home Office count
Year ending March 2002
published 19 July 2012
Recorded crime statistics for England and Wales 1898 - 2001/02
row “2001/0269”
column “Homicide (includes murder, manslaughter and infanticide)”
cell value 891

Year ending March 2002 is the highest figure in the published series: 891. Rule: highest of the 104 periods published here (1898 to Year ending March 2002).

1898 to Year ending March 2002

Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestOne point a year is drawn; the source publishes overlapping year-ending figures, and every one is in the history table and CSVDashed line: change in coverage or methodShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What this measures

Offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide recorded by the police in England and Wales in a calendar year (to 1997) or year ending March (1997/98 to 2001/02), as initially recorded.

What this doesn’t measure

Offences later reclassified after investigation or court outcome (the Homicide Index basis), deaths by dangerous driving, or the years from 2002/03.

Important caveat

Historical police-recorded crime for England and Wales compiled by the Home Office from annual returns, 1898 to 2001/02. The file itself warns that "Recorded crime figures are affected by changes in levels of reporting to the police and recording by them, and this should be borne in mind when looking at long-term trends." Offence classifications were added, split and regrouped many times (the file lists 69 changes); the group totals used here are as published. From 1 April 1998 "the change to the Home Office Counting Rules for recorded crime had the effect of increasing the number of crimes counted. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable"; 1998/99 is shown on the new rules. From 1 April 2002 the National Crime Recording Standard "had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years." The modern series that follows begins in the year ending March 2003 on that new standard. Calendar years to 1997, then years ending March. The 1939 row is incomplete in the source (homicide and robbery blank; some group totals shown as zero because their components were not collected) and those cells are treated as not available.

When the way this was measured changed

A series can move because the thing being measured changed, or because the way of measuring it changed. Each change below is marked on the chart, and says what the figures meant on either side of it.

April 1998 · methodology change

Before: Offences counted under the Home Office Counting Rules as they stood before April 1998.
After: Offences counted under the widened 1998 Counting Rules, which increased the number counted.

Home Office: "the change to the Home Office Counting Rules for recorded crime had the effect of increasing the number of crimes counted. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable."

April 2002 · methodology change

Before: Recording practice as it stood before the National Crime Recording Standard.
After: Recording under the National Crime Recording Standard, which increased the number of crimes recorded.

Home Office: the National Crime Recording Standard "had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years."

Revision history

No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.

Source

Publisher: Home Office
Publication: Historical crime data: recorded crime 1898 to 2001/02
Release: Recorded crime 1898 to 2001/02, published 19 July 2012
Source file: rec-crime-1898-2002.xls
File SHA-256: 93332237ca52269cbb3743c48b71427aee14be00c3da9ae8922a53eda59ffc71
Retrieved: 4 September 2026
Sheet: RCS 1898 to 2001-02
Table: Recorded crime statistics for England and Wales 1898 - 2001/02
Row: 2001/0269
Column: Homicide (includes murder, manslaughter and infanticide)
Cell value: 891
Geography: England and Wales
Unit: offences
API: /api/metrics/prc_homicide_1898_2002 · /series · /vintages

Government periods

Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.

Labour 1997–2001	6791996	850Year ending March 2001	↑ 25.2%
Conservative 1992–1997	7251991	6791996	↓ 6.3%
Conservative 1987–1992	6611986	7251991	↑ 9.7%
Conservative 1983–1987	6181982	6611986	↑ 7.0%
Conservative 1979–1983	5321978	6181982	↑ 16.2%

Full comparison with chart

Release: Recorded crime 1898 to 2001/02 · publication page
Last updated: 19 July 2012
Next release expected: Not yet announced (estimated from the usual cadence)