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Crime Trends: Sources of Information
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Crime Trends
Lesson 07
Crime & Law in Context
Date 1
Victimisation Surveys
Police recorded statistics show a glimpse of crime trends - they show the tip of the iceberg.
Victimisation or crime surveys look beneath the iceberg and uncover experiences of crime which haven't been recorded by the police.
Victimisation surveys are seen to give a better picture of crime trends.
Victimisation Surveys
Crime Surveys
Crime Surveys ask people about their experiences of crime over a certain period of time.
The experiences are used to estimates the levels of crime.
Crime Surveys also ask people about their thoughts and opinions on criminal justice agencies such as the police.
Crime Surveys
Examples of Crime Surveys
Examples
UK: Crime Survey for England and Wales - https://www.crimesurvey.co.uk/en/index.html
US: National Crime Victimisation Survey - https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245
Selected European Countries: International Crime Victims Survey - http://www.unicri.it/services/library_documentation/publications/icvs/publications/
Key Points
- Crime surveys are not influenced by changes to reporting or recording practices.
- They show a greater number of crime than official statistics.
- Crime Surveys reveal that around 30% of crimes are actually recorded (Home Office, 2002).
Police Recorded Crime
Police Recorded Crime
Once a crime has been discovered and reported to the police, it becomes a statistic.
Police collect this information to show how much crime there is locally.
The information can be used to present a picture of crime trends at the national level.
But: these statistics are just the tip of the iceberg....
Crime Maps
Police statistics can be used to produce crime maps so you can see what types are crimes are happening in your area.
It can also help police resources - police can focus on areas with high levels of crime.
US Crime Maps
Links to Crime Maps - US
- http://www.city-data.com/crime/
- https://www.crimemapping.com/
- Have a go at finding out about crime in the US - pick a State and have a look!
UK Crime Maps
Links to Crime Maps - UK
- https://www.police.uk/
- https://www.crimemaps.org.uk/ (near the bottom of the webpage there is a link to each police forces' crime map in England and Wales).
- Have a go at finding out about crime in the UK. If you live in the UK, search for your postcode. See what you can find out!
Is Crime Increasing?
Article
US Article on 'Is Violent Crime Increasing?' https://prospect.org/article/violent-crime-increasing
News Segment
FBI Reports a Sharp Increase in Violent Crime
Video 1
News Segment
Venezuela Violence: Crime Rate Has Been Increasing
Video 2
News Segment
Violent Crime Soars as Police Record 13% Rise in Offences
Video 3
Important Points
Key Points
- Recorded crime can highlight the under-reporting of certain crimes such as sexual assault - policies can be introduced to address this
- Recorded crime statistics show more about decision making of police than changes in offending (Bottomley and Pease, 1986).
- These statistics will ignore middle class crimes such as tax fraud.