Victim Reporting Essay

In general, most victims do not report incidents. However, the chances of the victim reporting an incident depends on the specific incident, the extent of physical harm, police department, city, race, income gender etc. To elaborate, a violent crime is more likely to be reported in comparison to theft crimes. The victim may be hesitant on reporting if they resisted with a weapon and caused harm during the altercation. Victims that deal with crimes involving their vehicles could determine whether or not he or she wants to report it. For example, the victim could fear complication with the insurance companies. Fear plays a major role on the victim’s decision-making. Thus, it is quite possible that the victim could worry that the offender is associated with a gang in fear of future harm that could be done to them. Most importantly, the victim may feel that the incident does not need to be reported, when in fact it should (Karmen, 2012).
It is also important to note the victim might not have the time to report the crime that needs immediate assistant or doesn’t have the resources to do so.
In addition, victims view punishment differently. In that case, the victim might believe the offender won’t get what he or she deserved, so they’ll do it themselves. Some victims may be reluctant to report a crime a second time if they had a terrible experience the first time. For instance, the victim could feel that the officer is not showing much interest or is not concerned, sensitive about the victim’s situation. Last of all the fear of police brutality could determine whether or not the victim reports a crime. A lot of people are conditioned to think the police will only make situations worse if you call them (Karmen,
2012).
Victims anticipate a crime that is reported to be solved and if not they lose confidence in the police department. According to the FBI UCR, the police department during the 21st Century struggled to solve most cases even with the help of Forensics. In that case, the people may rely on other ways to solve their victimized crimes. This could be one reason why people fail to report a crime. All in all, it is the lack of trust. The term unfounding was mentioned in the book, explaining that police could deny the victims claim, such as their reports weren’t believable or could not be justified in court. The problem with that is some police departments such as the Chicago detectives mentioned in Chapter 6, try to limit their case loads (serious crimes) by dismissing them as unfounded, especially if there department is under constant pressure (Karmen, 2009). This discourages citizens because they may feel that the police are ignoring just to make their jobs easier. Are they supposed to protect and serve? However, they do deal with a lot of false accusations. I am in line with what the book provides. The three reasons why I believe victims do not report a crime are fear, distrust and shame. I believe fear is the number one reason why victims do not report a crime. We shouldn’t allow our fears or our discontent direct us into silence with no action. I don’t believe in karma, so if you truly felt you were victimized than I would suggest handling it instead of avoiding or hiding it. Secondly, the victim could distrust the system and the way the process conducts. However, distrust varies from race, age and political affiliation. It is statically stated on the website Gallup (2015), confidence with the police has declined since 2004, by 12 points, but it is still at 52 percent. To conclude, the victim’s shame could determine whether or not they report a crime. Sadly, a lot of these types of situations involve sexual assault (Thomas, 2017). Unfortunately, the victim may have the fear of being humiliated to the public.