The discussion notes that reported crimes declined by 3 percent between 1994 and 1995 and that 93 percent of the 1995 offenses were property crimes. The main community sentences were probation orders, community service orders, and combination orders; an increasing percentage of offenders who receive community sentences are receiving combination orders. About 80 percent of all community sentences were given by magistrates' courts in 1995. Twenty-eight percent of offenders sentenced for an indictable offense received a community sentence, compared to 20 percent in 1989. More than three-fifths of the probation orders were for a year or less. Reconviction rates were lower for females than for males; reconviction rates declined with increasing age. Reconviction rates were higher for burglars than for any other offense group, regardless of the type of community order. The proportion of probationers who were reconvicted within 2 years increased steadily from 52 percent in 1988 to 59 percent for 1991 commencements and then declined to 58 percent for 1992. About 900 juveniles began supervision by the probation service under an order made in the family courts in 1995, about the same as in 1994 and more than in the previous 3 years since the introduction of the Children Act 1989 in October 1991. Tables and reference notes