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Papers > Art > Examine the problems involved in accepting official crime statistics as a true representation of levels and
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Examine the problems involved in accepting official crime statistics as a true representation of levels and |
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Crime statistics in Britain are used to expose the extent and distribution of crime within the country. It is useful as it reveals the change in crime over time, however, whilst it may appear a true representation of crime is exposed this is not the case. Taken at a glance it is true that crime statistics will show the extent of crime , distribution of crime and the change of extent and distribution of crime, but what it doesn’t give a true representation of is the crime not included in the official statistics- the majority of crime. Instead it can be argued that crime figures do not measure the true degree of crime in society, but instead the level of crime reported and recorded in society. ... For a case to be recorded there must be evidence that the offence has been committed, if there is a severe lack of proof surrounding the crime, the offence can not be added to the official crime data. Further more, the amount of resources available to the police and the courts are limited and thus may affect the amount of obtainable evidence for the crime to be stated officially. ... Walker notes that whilst the police have an obligation to record all crimes, it remains up to them whether or not they feel the crime is serious enough to warrant. ... In this case, the number of burglaries appeared to increase by 300 per cent in a year, only because the rules for classifying the crime changed. As already noted, crime statistics depend on the victim coming forward and reporting the crime to the police, which will then subsequently be recorded, depending on the crime. However, victims don’t always come forward and reveal the crime to the police. ... A table revealing the reasons for not reporting criminal incidents: Reasons for not reporting a crime % Vandalism Burglary Vehicle thefts* Bicycle theft Assault Robbery Theft from person Other thefts ** All offences Too trivial/no loss 45 45 45 30 22 28 50 46 40 Police could do nothing 35 32 41 38 16 30 33 24 29 Police would not be interested 22 21 26 24 12 23 15 21 20 Dealt with matter themselves 11 16 9 12 47 21 12 11 19 Reported to other authorities 2 3 1 1 8 6 5 9 5 Inconvenient to report 3 2 6 6 2 2 6 4 4 Fear reprisals 2 2 Less than 1 - 11 11 Less than 1 1 4 Fear/dislike of police Less than 1 1 Less than 1 - 1 - 1 Less than 1 Less than 1 Other 4 7 3 6 9 11 4 6 5 * Thefts from vehicles and attempted thefts of and from them. |
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Title: Examine the problems involved in accepting official crime statistics as a true representation of levels and
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