Using the example of violent crime show the strengths and weaknesses of police recorded crime figures.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Using the example of violent crime show the strengths and weaknesses of police recorded crime figures.

According to the Home Office "Police statistics provide a good measure of trends in well reported crimes, are an important indicator of police workload, and can be used for local crime pattern analysis" (Home Office 2004). Violent crime has always been an issue of concern for both the government and the public. Reports of attacks occur daily in the media and in official crime statistics. One issue that remains is how reliable these statistics are, are they unnecessarily creating an atmosphere of panic and tension within the general public or do they provide a reliable measure of the rate of violent crime today?

Modern crime statistics today are taken from various sources, local levels, courts, the British Transport Police, and the British Crime Survey. In comparison to the 1940s and 50s when crime statistics were formulated by a small number of criminologists "working in academic or clinical settings" (Maguire 2002 p324), one might come to the conclusion that the information available today is more reliable and ecologically valid. However, extensive research into these new methods and approaches has found new weaknesses