Overall crime decreased in the second half of 2002. Robbery fell by an estimated 23 percent compared with the previous year. Violent crime appears to have leveled off after decreasing in the late 1990's. Domestic burglary showed signs of decreasing after a flat period earlier in the year. Vehicle thefts continued to fall, with the British Crime Survey (BCS) showing a 17 percent decrease. Levels of fear of burglary and car crime have fallen in recent quarters. The majority of the public felt that crime has risen in the last 2 years, despite overall crime having fallen over that time. Based on interviews that took place in the year ending December 2002, the BCS estimated a fall of 9 percent in the number of crimes against adults living in private households. The risk of being a victim of crime also fell over the same period. The latest figures showed that 26 percent of adults living in private households had been the victim of one or more crimes over the previous 12 months. This compared with 27 percent in 2001. After accounting for the effects of the National Crime Recording Standard, there was a 7 percent decrease in total recorded crime in October-December 2002 compared with the corresponding quarter in 2001. This follows a 1 percent fall in the previous quarter and increases earlier in the year, and suggests an improving picture since the statistics for the year 2001/2002. 3 figures, 4 tables, 6 footnotes, 5 references