The line graph illustrates data on the changes in the number of criminal incidents – burglary, car theft, and robbery – that were recorded in the inner city (Newport) between 2003 and 2012.
Overall, the number of burglary incidents declined significantly, while robbery levels rose moderately. Meanwhile, the recorded number of stolen cars remained relatively stable, albeit undergoing multiple fluctuations.
In 2003, burglary was the most widespread crime (at around 3,400 incidents). Subsequently, its rate hit a peak at approximately 3,800 cases in the following year, prior to a series of marginal, moderate, and radical declines until 2007 (to about 1,500). Nevertheless, its figure, having hit bottom in 2008 (at about 1,200), recorded a negligible gain, rising to around 1,500 cases, where it remained until 2012.
Similarly, car theft, having been substantially behind burglary initially (at about 2,800), hit a high after a marginal growth of around 100 new incidents. However, its trajectory proceeded downwards, leading to its all-time low in 2006 (at roughly 2,000). In the following six years, its rate fluctuated between 2,000 and just under 2,800 cases, surpassing that of burglary in 2007 in the process.
In contrast, the number of recorded robberies, having stood at a mere 500 cases, never crossed the mark of 1,000 incidents over the given period. Although it went up by only around 150 cases overall, the gap between its rate and that of burglary narrowed considerably by 2012 (only a twofold gap compared to sevenfold in 2003).