International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 44

What recent property crime trends in Western Europe tells us about the crime drop
Graph 1. Evolution of the crime rates recorded by the police per 1,000 inhabitants for Cambriolages de
résidences in metropolitan France, Cambriolages dans les habitations au sens strict in Belgium, and
Wohnungseinbruchdiebstahl in Germany (2008=100)
140.4
140.0
133.3
138.0
135.6
130.0
128.9
124.4
120.0
118.4
110.0
100.0
90.0
97.6
100.0
86.8
80.0
70.0
In %
of the
2008
annual
rate
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Germany, Wohnungseinbruchdiebstahl recorded per thousand inhabitants (Base 100 year 2008)
Belgium, Cambriolages dans les habitations au sens strict recorded per thousand inhabitants (Base 100 year 2008)
France, Cambriolages de résidences recorded per thousand inhabitants (Base 100 year 2008)
Sources: DCPJ, INSEE, France; Police Fédérale, Statbel, Belgium; Bundeskriminalamt, Statistisches Bundesamt,
Germany
Belgium and started in 2002 in France, a reversal of the trend toward an upturn began at
the same time between 2008 and 2009.
The phenomenon of increase picked up pace in 2011, so much so that after four
years, the rate of cambriolages recorded returned to levels close to those observed in the
early 2000s (Belgium, France) or higher (Germany).
Eurostat’s publication deals with the case of motor vehicle theft (automobiles or
two-wheeled motor vehicles). It does not include what is called vols à la roulotte (theft
from a vehicle) or thefts of motor vehicle accessories.
The resources available on the website of the Belgian Federal Police allow us to
find the numbers of “auto thefts” and “thefts on or in vehicles” recorded since 2000. At
the same time, for some motor vehicle thefts, especially two-wheeled vehicles, the data
for 2001–2004 were not found.
The Bundeskriminalamt nomenclature for recording crimes in the Federal
Republic of Germany contains two categories for theft related to motor vehicles: motor
vehicle theft (Diebstahl von Kraftfahrzeugen) and theft from vehicles (Diebstahl in/aus
Kraftfahrzeugen).
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