[ARCHIVED CONTENT] rds counting rules

Counting Rules for Recorded Crime

The Home Office Counting Rules provide a national standard for the recording and counting of notifiable offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales (known as ’recorded crime’). The Rules were revised to take account of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) which was adopted on 1 April 2002 with the aim of recording crime in a more victim-focused way and maintaining greater consistency between police forces in the recording of crime.

Ongoing consultation on the formulation and development of the policy on crime recording is provided through working groups comprising members of RDS, police force regional representatives and representatives of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Introduction
Layout of Classification & Counting Rules pages

Recent revisions
The most recent revisions to the Counting Rules came into effect on 1 April 2010. Minor amendments were made on 1 July 2010 and 25 November 2010.

Summary of amendments April 1 2010 (word, 148K)
Summary of amendments online update July 1 2010 (doc, 92k)
Summary of amendments November 25 2010 (doc 116k)

General Rules (pdf 280k) apply across all types of recorded crime and include legal definitions and examples of how crime is recorded and detected. The National Crime Recording Standard (pdf 116K) is included as an annex to the General Rules.

Categories of recorded crime
The Counting Rules are applied across nine categories of recorded crime. Download any of the categories below for a breakdown of the offences in each and explanations of how they are classified.

Violence against the Person (pdf 364k)
Sexual Offences (pdf 340k)
WARNING may not be considered suitable for minors.
Robbery (pdf 48K)
Burglary (pdf 136K)
Theft & Handling Stolen Goods (pdf 164K)
Fraud & Forgery (pdf 460K)
Criminal Damage (pdf 140K)
Drug Offences (pdf 84K)
Other Offences (pdf 332k)

Notifiable Offence list 2010/11 (excel, 508k)