There are "lies, damned lies and crime statistics", as Alan Travis wrote for us. And the latest figures for England and Wales are out today.

For the first time, they're published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - here's the link - rather than the Home Office. The switchover hasn't done anything to make them any less opaque, however, and we'll have to wait for more detailed annual tables for 2011/12. These cover the figures up to the end of 2011. And the data shows that muggings and street robberies are up - despite an overall fall in crime.

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The key figures are:

? Total recorded crime fell from 4,159,553 to 4,043,339 - a fall of 3%
? Muggings and street robberies increased by 8% last year
? Violence against the person decreased by 7%
? Domestic burglaries dropped 3%
? Car thefts increased by 2%
? Separate figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) - the new name for the British Crime Survey - showed "no statistically significant change in overall crime" with police recording 3% fewer incidents

British crime statistics are complicated partly because of double recording. Firstly, there are the official police figures (which historically under-record the true level of crime). Then there is the old British Crime Survey - now the Crime Survey for England and Wales - where 50,000 people are asked for their direct experiences of crime. This is regarded as the most authoritative of either.

There is more detailed data from the last set of crime figures, which were published by the Home Office previously.

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Murder statistics often confound received wisdom. Those figures showed:

? Of the 636 murders in 2010/11, the biggest single number used a sharp instrument, such as a knife, for the murder weapon
? The vast majority of child murder victims are killed by a parent - 36 out of 56. In total, 43 of those victims knew their murderer
? The same goes with total murders - 64% were known to their victim, 33% were friends
? 60% of murders are caused by a quarrel and loss of temper. Only 3% are as a result of theft or robbery

Alan Travis wrote that the riots last summer made little difference to the overall crime figures:

The Home Office said the August riots had only a small impact on the overall crime rate, partly because of the way the official counting rules operate. The official police figures link about 5,000 offences to the riots, including 184 incidents of violent disorder, but do not actually class any of them as riot

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The police detection rate ? meaning that a suspect has been identified and interviewed and there is sufficient evidence to bring a charge ? remained at 28% in 2010/11. So, under a third of all crimes get solved.

Crime map of England in 2010/11. Click image to explore it

But one of the most interesting figures is about the perception of crime. The Crime Survey asks people whether they think crime is getting worse where they live and nationally. So, people think crime is getting worse - but not where they live. It's the perception gap between what we know is going on and what we think is going on. Or is that the Daily Mail gap?

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The report published last summer said that:

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