Crime Of The Century - A Chilling Look At Crime Statistics In The UK
In the public perception, this clearly raises a concern that the national crime statistics do not properly cover all crime. We share this concern. The Home Office clearly does need to know about all forms of crime in order to inform policy and resource allocation.
However, we are also clear that there can never be a measure of ‘overall’ or ‘total’ crime.
There will always be crimes not adequately captured in the statistics and a single total number would bring together a very wide range of acts and degrees of seriousness in a not very meaningful way. What matters – and is attainable – is to develop national crime statistics series that have clearly understood strengths and weaknesses and are consistent enough over time to provide trend data for whatever area of crime each measures.
Part of the recent problem with the credibility of the crime statistics has been a consequence of introducing significant changes first in the counting rules and then in the methodology of police recording practices (the NCRS). The consequences were unintended and, certainly at the time, there were good reasons for making both these changes. Regular change, particularly in police recorded crime, is to some extent inevitable. New legislation necessarily means adding to the counting rules and such changes are ongoing. However, when significant changes are made, a period of relative stability should be planned while they are absorbed. The problem is not change as such but whether required changes are well managed.
We believe that any future changes in crime statistics should happen in a planned and controlled way. Plans should include a method of measuring the effects of the changes on crime trends and a communications strategy to explain the changes and their likely impact.
The latter aspect is crucial and must be included as part of the original planning rather than as an afterthought when the changes are already happening in order to handle press reaction. We are clear that the handling of statistical changes and interpretation requires a long-term communications strategy designed to engender public trust and confidence in government statistics.
The two main sources of official statistics on crime:
Source : Crime in England and Wales 2009/10
http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb1210.pdf
The police recorded series and the British Crime Survey (BCS). The BCS is a nationally representative sample survey (now based on more than 45,000 respondents) of the population resident in households in England and Wales. As a household based survey, the BCS does not cover all offences or all population groups. While police recorded crime has a wider coverage of offences (including crimes such as drug offences that are often termed ‘victimless’) and covers the entire population, it does not include those crimes not reported
55
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122