Police Recorded Crime Statistics (AQA GCSE Sociology)

Official statistics of crime

• Official statistics of crime recorded by police forces in England and Wales are reported to the Home Office and published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)

  • They exclude less serious crimes that are dealt with by the Magistrates Court

• Police recorded crime statistics measure the extent of crime in any one year

Usefulness of official crime statistics

• Official statistics of crime recorded by police forces give an inaccurate picture of the amount of crimes committed, critics claim they are not useful

  • If a crime has not been detected or witnessed, it can't be reported to the police

  • If a crime has been discovered in the workplace, employers are more likely to fire the employee instead of involving the police

    • This means that it won't be recorded by the police and so not counted in the official statistics

  • If a crime is not reported to the police, it cannot be recorded by them

  • Many victims of crime choose not to report it to the police for several reasons:

    • They see the crime as trivial, such as petty vandalism, mobile phone theft or bicycle theft

    • They think the police can't or won't do anything about it, such as hate crime

    • No loss has been suffered

    • The belief that the police will not handle it sensitively, such as sexual assault

    • Fear of consequences, particularly in cases of domestic violence

    • Fear of embarrassment, particularly in cases of online fraud or dating scams

  • This under-reporting explains why the official crime statistics suggest the extent of crime is lower than the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates

  • If a crime has been reported to the police, they may not record it because

    • they consider it to be trivial

    • they doubt the honesty or accuracy of the complainant's report

    • they believe there is a lack of evidence

• Sociologists argue that official statistics ignore the hidden or 'dark figure' of crime, which includes unreported or unrecorded crime

• As a result, they tend to treat official crime statistics with caution

Trends in police-recorded crime

• Researchers can compare crime rates in different areas and spot trends in crime over time by using police-recorded crime statistics

  • These statistics show that the amount of crime in England and Wales is declining

• These statistics may provide an inaccurate measurement of crime rates or trends because they can be affected by

  • how much money is spent on CCTV surveillance

  • changes in the way crimes are recorded by the police

• Any increase in crime statistics may be due to

  • improved crime recording by the police rather than an actual increase in criminal acts

  • increased awareness of particular issues, e.g. the plight of women who are victims of crime so they feel confident reporting it

  • increased awareness and sensitivity of the police dealing with, e.g. hate crimes, so victims feel confident in reporting such crimes

• This means that it can be difficult to compare statistics and trends over time

The social construction of crime statistics

• Sociologists question how far police-recorded crime statistics provide a valid picture of how much crime occurs