Crime Rates

Officials have long been aware of the problems in gathering crime statistics. In some cases, the problems lie in the reporting procedure that is used in making the final crime figure reports. The number of actual crimes reported to police is not always made public.

Other problems arise in deciding which figures accurately reflect crime rates. For example, court statistics do not reflect all the arrests that are made since charges are sometimes dismissed. Arrest statistics are also weak because an arrest is not always made for every crime.

Total figures on crimes reported to the police also do not give a full picture. Crimes often are not reported to the police either because the victims are afraid or because they or witnesses feel that nothing will be done to punish the criminal. One study indicated another problem. It found that the police did not respond to a reported crime as often as 20 percent of the time. This situation applied particularly to large cities.

Several long-term studies have been undertaken to get a better picture of the full extent of the crime problem. The approach taken in these studies has been to survey a large group of families regularly for a period of several months. The participants in the studies are asked whether or not they have been victims of crimes. In this manner, investigators are better able to win the confidence of the participants. The investigators also believe the crime figures obtained are more accurate. Usually, the findings in such studies reveal much higher crime rates than those officially reported.