The line graph provides information about different types of crimes—car theft, house burgling, and street robbery—in England and Wales over a 35-year period from 1970 to 2005.
Generally speaking, all types of crimes increased during this time. It is also worth mentioning that while car theft was the most common crime, street robbery remained the least frequent.
Car theft showed the most dramatic changes among the three categories. In 1970, the number of car thefts stood at around 0.4 million, but this figure steadily increased throughout the 1970s and 1980s. By 1995, it had peaked at approximately 1.6 million cases, which marked the highest point for any crime during the entire period. After 1995, car theft began to decline, falling to around 1.2 million in 2000 and further dropping to just over 1 million in 2005, although it remained the most common crime.
House burglary also showed an overall upward trend initially, starting at around 0.2 million in 1970 and rising to 0.6 million by 1980. From 1980 to 2000, it remained relatively stable with minor fluctuations before declining slightly to about 0.4 million in 2005. In contrast, street robbery had the lowest figures throughout the period. It started at under 0.1 million in 1970 and remained fairly steady until around 1995, after which it saw a small increase, peaking slightly above 0.2 million in 2000, and then staying level until 2005.