The police recorded 63,492 notifiable offenses in 1991, an 11-percent increase in recorded crime over 1990 but a 4-percent decline from the peak level in 1986. Theft, at 50.5 percent, is the single largest offense category. Sexual offenses doubled over the 1982-1991 period, and violent offenses against the person have increased by a factor of one-and-a-half. Fraud and forgery have nearly doubled, and theft has increased by over one-fifth. Offenses of burglary, robbery, other offenses, and criminal damage have declined. The offenses most successfully cleared were sexual offenses, offenses involving fraud and forgery, and offenses of violence against the person. For 1991, the number of defendants proceeded against at Magistrates' Courts decreased by 18 percent compared to 1990. Those proceeded against in the Crown Court dropped to 1,342, the lowest total for more than a decade. The average daily prison population in Northern Ireland totaled 1,796 in 1991, a 0.6-percent increase over 1990. 43 figures, 36 tables, and 4 appendixes