AC1.3 Explain the consequences of unreported crime
The Ripple Effect:
Meaning:
This is founded on the idea of dropping a pebble into a pond, which creates ripples that circulate,
each ripple causing another and so on until they spread across the pond’s surface. In terms of crime,
the pebble is demonstrative of the unreported crime. In this case, the pebble, the crime, doesn’t just
effect those immediately involved, but potentially a whole community (the pond’s surface).
Example:
As an example, hate crimes. If one ethnic minority is attacked and this crime remains unreported,
the hate now has a potential of spreading across an entire community, where the racist hate from
the original unreported crime will spread across to other ethnic minorities in that community.
Case study:
After 9/11 the US saw a peak in race-based hate crimes. The first victim was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a
Sikh man with a beard and a turban who ran a gas station with his family, who was shot by Frank
Roque in a race-based hate crime because of the Muslim hate after 9/11. Sodhi was shot five times
by Roque, with Roque’s motivation being revenge for 9/11. This first attack caused a ripple effect
across America and lead to over 3000 hate crimes motivated by 9/11.
Cultural Consequences:
Meaning:
Different cultures view different acts in very different ways. Some actions are seen as unacceptable
by the law, but different cultures could view the same action as acceptable, and even a normality in
their way of life.
Example:
FGM is one of these, a common practice in some parts of the world, but illegal under UK law.
However, minority cultures in the UK may continue the practice of FGM and remain unpunished by
the law as the crime isn’t reported by one of those involved, meaning therefore that the practice of
FGM can be continued out of the sight of the law.
Case Study:
Countries that still practice FGM are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Decriminalization and legal change:
Meaning of decriminalization:
There are several actions widespread in society that are against the law but aren’t necessarily
treated as such. Decriminalisation means that the act is still punishable by law, but those caught
committing the offence will not be prosecuted by law.
Example of decriminalisation:
, An example of this is underaged drinking or the use of cannabis, which while illegal isn’t largely
frowned upon in UK society. When these types of crimes become widespread, they become less and
less reported as society stops seeing them as real crime and often turns a blind eye to them. They
are decriminalised, where the punishment for these offences is just a fine or a warning for a minor
offence.
Meaning of legalisation:
Legalisation is the act of making a once legal act allowed by law.
Example of legalisation:
In places of the US things like cannabis have been legalised due to government pressure received
from the public to legalise them as society no longer views them as wrong or a crime, but standard,
regular practice. An example of legalisation in the UK is homosexuality, which was legalised in 1967,
with homosexual marriage not passed until 2013.
Police Prioritisation:
Meaning:
Authorities can often give priority to some crimes over others. There are several reasons for why this
occurs. One of them could be that the authorities have limited resources and they are simply unable
to investigate every reported crime that occurs. Once the public are aware that the police are
priotising certain crimes and turning a blind eye to others, many of the “blind eye” crimes will go
unreported as the public begins to see it as a waste of time.
Examples:
The local community also have a partial say into what is investigated, for example they may want
certain anti-social or threatening crimes to be prioritised in that area. The media also play a role in
this as they could give media attention to certain crimes and request that these are investigated by
police. This inevitably means that some crimes will always receive lower police attention and
support, such as cannabis, and will often turn a blind eye to these as they simply do not have the
resources and funds to deal with them.
Unrecorded Crime:
Meaning:
For a crime to be recorded, it’s essential that the crime is reported to the police. If not reported,
there’s as little as a 10% chance that the police will detect it without the use of the public. However,
even if a crime is reported there is still a chance that it will not be recorded for a range of reasons.
These are: the police may not believe the report or there isn’t enough evidence to make a
conviction, the victim may not want to press charges, and the crime could be too trivial for the police
to investigate. This unrecorded crime means there is a distorted number of accurate statistics in the
number of specific crimes being committed, which means that the public begin to stop reporting
those specific crimes because of the few statistical convictions.
Example:
The number of rapes that are reported and ones that actually occur is most likely a highly different
number and this is a consequence of unreported crime. If the victim doesn’t come forward and
