Defining and measuring crime (A03)

Official statistics- they provide a 'snapshot' of the number of crimes in specific regions which allows the goverment to develop crime prevention strategies, police initiatives and direct resources to areas most in need. However, they are unreliable due to the fact that many crimes go unreported or unrecorded (only 25% of crimes are included in the figures, the other 75% is the dark figure). Also, policing priorities may distort the figures, e.g. Farrington and Dowds' study in Nottinghamshire found that police in this area were more likely to record thefts of under £10 which explained an apparent 'spike' of thefts

Victim surveys- have a greater degree of accuracy than official statistics because they are more likely to include details that were not reported to the police,…

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