Home Office Statistics
What, if anything, can be learnt about the ‘crime problem’ from studying Home Office criminal statistics?
Previous to April 2012 the Home office was the most definitive source of being accountable for recording official statistics, since then the Office for National Statistics took responsibility for such data. This essay will cover the current trends portrayed by the Home Office criminal statistics, and the levels of insight we obtain form understanding them.Initially to learn and get an understanding of the current crime problem we must understand that there are official statistics recorded by the Home Office and also criminal justice agencies, and some statistics relating to the British Crime Survey. In some instances these may be deemed ‘unofficial’ but are still in fact funded by the Home office. It will also explore the two main forms of measuring crime; police recorded crime and the British Crime Survey and what information can be gathered from them.
The latest National Statistics on crimes detected by the police in England and Wales…are based on data collected from the 43 Home Office police forces and the British Transport Police’. (Home Office) The release suggests an estimated 9.6 million crimes measured by the BCS in 2010/11. This figure in comparison to last year’s 9.5 million is not statistically significantly different. These figures tell us that since the survey started in 1981 crime has remained at its lowest level. Crimes recorded by the police in 2010/11 were 4.2 million; presenting a 4% decrease compared with the previous year and also at its lowest since the new counting rules was introduced in April 2002. From these statistics we can learn that both forms of measurement indicate the falling levels of crime, the primary trend is that since 2004/05 crime has been fairly flat, as there were a few significant statistical changes each year, and the reduction in police recorded crime is smaller than that was reported in the previous three years.
Previous to April 2012 the Home office was the most definitive source of being accountable for recording official statistics, since then the Office for National Statistics took responsibility for such data. This essay will cover the current trends portrayed by the Home Office criminal statistics, and the levels of insight we obtain form understanding them.Initially to learn and get an understanding of the current crime problem we must understand that there are official statistics recorded by the Home Office and also criminal justice agencies, and some statistics relating to the British Crime Survey. In some instances these may be deemed ‘unofficial’ but are still in fact funded by the Home office. It will also explore the two main forms of measuring crime; police recorded crime and the British Crime Survey and what information can be gathered from them.
The latest National Statistics on crimes detected by the police in England and Wales…are based on data collected from the 43 Home Office police forces and the British Transport Police’. (Home Office) The release suggests an estimated 9.6 million crimes measured by the BCS in 2010/11. This figure in comparison to last year’s 9.5 million is not statistically significantly different. These figures tell us that since the survey started in 1981 crime has remained at its lowest level. Crimes recorded by the police in 2010/11 were 4.2 million; presenting a 4% decrease compared with the previous year and also at its lowest since the new counting rules was introduced in April 2002. From these statistics we can learn that both forms of measurement indicate the falling levels of crime, the primary trend is that since 2004/05 crime has been fairly flat, as there were a few significant statistical changes each year, and the reduction in police recorded crime is smaller than that was reported in the previous three years.