As someone who had items stolen from his car recently – I left it open and my prescription glasses and cheap scratched sunglasses were taken – I wanted to know more about it and if the hotspots had changed in the last 10 years. To answer this question, I decided to measure it using total vehicle crimes by postcode sector per hectare. This allows us to make equivalent judgements as postcode sectors like postcode districts vary a lot in size.
To my surprise the hotspots had changed.
Measured by crimes per hectare per postcode sector – a unique feature available to UKCrimeStats subscribers, we have seen quite a big change.
Between March 2013 and February 2014 inclusive, there was a total of 75.27 vehicle crimes per hectare in the postcode sector of B5 6. , the highest then ranking.
| Rank | Postcode Sectors | Total Mar 2013 | Total Feb 2014 | Sum Total | Average |
| 1 | B5 6, Birmingham | 3.2258 | 6.4516 | 75.2688 | 6.2724 |
| 2 | WC1A 1, Camden | 5.1546 | 3.0928 | 44.3299 | 3.69416 |
| 3 | WC2B 4, Camden | 0 | 2.3622 | 27.5591 | 2.29659 |
| 4 | EC1A 4, City of London | 2.6316 | 7.8947 | 23.6842 | 1.97368 |
| 5 | L2 2, Liverpool | 0 | 2.9412 | 14.7059 | 1.22549 |
Now look at the latest 12 months, the same report criterion.
| Rank | Postcode Sectors | Total Mar 2022 | Total Feb 2023 | Sum Total | Average |
| 1 | L2 2, Liverpool | 13.2353 | 1.4706 | 32.3529 | 2.69608 |
| 2 | BS1 2, Bristol | 1.5306 | 4.0816 | 28.0612 | 2.33843 |
| 3 | BS1 4, Bristol | 3.3727 | 1.0961 | 16.2732 | 1.3561 |
| 4 | B5 6, Birmingham | 3.2258 | 0 | 16.129 | 1.34408 |
| 5 | WC1A 2, Camden | 3.6765 | 0 | 15.4412 | 1.28677 |
In the top 5, we have postcode sectors in Bristol but the top ranking spot is in Liverpool – with a total of 32 per hectare, thankfully half that of what was happening in Birmingham 10 years ago.