Co-Offending in UK Police Recorded Crime Data

Abstract

This article examines patterns of co-offending in UK police recorded crime statistics over a five-year period between 1998 and 2003. The data comprised 110,323 cleared offences in one of four police districts in South Yorkshire. It was found that the probability of co-offending increases with the length of the criminal career; the proportion of offences involving co-offenders decreases as the criminal career progresses; and the proportion of solo offending increases with increasing age.