AC 1.6 Evaluate methods of collecting statistics about crime
Traditionally, there are two methods of measuring and tracking crime trends, which are Recorded crime
statistics collected by the police (Home Office) and the information collected in the crime survey for
England and Wales (CSEW). The purpose of collecting statistics about crime is because it provides trends
in offending, allows the evaluation and development of crime reduction policies and enables the
protection of potential victims while are all vital in maintaining a civilised society and allowing the police
to keep us safe.
The home office provides police recorded crime in tables which contain recorded crime figures broken
down by offence type, geography and time period. This method has its strengths and weaknesses. For
example, the police can use the information provided to detect crimes before or as they happen,
meaning overall there will be less of that crime and also it can create a good picture of the volume of
crime, allowing resources to be allocated more effectively as to save time and money but be the most
efficient. Another benefit of the Home office reports is that it can inform crime prevention strategies so
that police can take immediate actions in place where certain crimes are higher. For example, if drug
dealing was more prevalent in the north of London, police could put undercover agents, drug dogs and
more patrols around that area to catch more criminals. However, this method also has it’s downfalls,
such as police do not record all crimes that are reported to them and it does not contain details of
unreported crimes, which is usually 800,000 crimes a year according to HMIC. This proves difficult to get
an accurate image of where the crime occurs and how frequently it occurs, meaning this method can
never be truly accurate. Variation in recording practises also reduces effectiveness of yearly
comparisons, meaning it is not always reliable because different methods will produce different results.
Another disadvantage is that victims may be reluctant to speak about crime and being a victim due to
embarrassment or fear, so they may lie which results in statistics being inaccurate or unreliable.
The crime survey for England and Wales is a victim survey that asks a sample of the population in
England and Wales about their experience of crime. An important feature of this survey is that it
includes crimes that are not reported to the police meaning it is more accurate. As well as information
about the nature of the crime it includes location, timing, characteristics of the offender and
relationships between the offender and victim. This method has found a 17% increase in vehicle theft in
the past year and a 31% fall estimated in a number of technological crimes in the past year. The CSEW
also has it’s advantages and limitations, such as it identifies those most at risk and so informs crime
prevention schemes so that the most suitable and informed plan can be chosen to protect people and
stop the crime. It is also very ethical as it does not pass on private information and is anonymous,
meaning it has high validity as people are more likely to tell the truth when they know they can’t be
identified. As it looks at a large sample of participants, it captures large amounts of unreported crimes
which will give a much more accurate sample of data than the police records. However, there are many
limitations to this survey, such as it fails to capture victimless crimes such as drugs sales and hidden
crimes like domestic abuse, as well as not reporting business related crimes, allowing for inaccuracy to
occur. There is also a lack of parity between the two methods, with the police records recordings 10%
increase in crime the same time as the csew reports a 7% reduction in crime, showing that the two
methods lack reliability. The CSEW is also not well suited to measuring trends in low volume but harmful
crime and also faces ethical issues as it is wrong to send to children who don’t understand crime
themselves.
