Crime Statistics: Community Indicators

What makes crime a complex issue?  crime is a "hidden" event and can be difficult to describe  crime is a local phenomenon: variations between neighbourhoods are important  conceptual issues can be complex  obtaining data directly is dependent on police records or on special purpose surveys ƒpolice data tied to legal definitions ƒsurveys are expensive and have limitations

Example indicators  prevalence of crime at national, state and community levels  reported and unreported crimes - rates of reporting  "nuisance" incidents - graffiti, being "hassled" or abused  perceptions of safety and beliefs about community crime levels

Possible data sources  national crime victimisation surveys ƒCrime and Safety survey, Personal Safety survey, International Crime Victims survey  state or community level surveys  information from police records of recorded crime  information from other agencies ƒeg) hospital admissions, insurance claims

Data sources: surveys  can provide information relating to: ƒunreported crime ƒfear of crime ƒbeliefs about levels of crime ƒ"nuisance" incidents which are significant to the community but are not reported  can examine personal characteristics of victims and non-victims  allows state, national and international comparisons

Data sources: surveys (continued)  limitations include: ƒsmall range of offences collected ƒsmall area data difficult to collect ƒmatching survey language to legal definitions is problematic ƒmay be too infrequent for regular monitoring ƒdifferent cultural understandings of crime can affect international comparisons

Data sources: police data  comprehensive data available ƒall offences ƒall geographical areas  limitations include: ƒno data for unreported crime ƒdependent on policies and procedures of different police agencies ƒlegislative frameworks specific to jurisdictions

Data developments: surveys  ABS survey review conducted ƒrecommendation of new model involving: ƒannual monitoring of headline offences and fear of crime ƒless frequent survey collection of complex offences –eg) domestic and family violence, sexual assault and "emerging" crimes  questions for national surveys could be made available to allow same framework for local area surveys

Data developments: police data  new national crime recording standard established ƒbased on scenarios and behaviours ƒmakes mapping survey and admin data easier ƒonce implemented, small area data would be attainable across jurisdictions ƒproposed pilot study in NSW and WA on small area property crime data ƒpotential for international use

Other crime and justice data  data on offenders ƒdevelopment of offenders proceeded against by police and their characteristics ƒpossibility for small area data  recidivism ƒlooking at possibility of "re-contact" measurement: includes re-contact with police, courts, corrective services, juvenile justice.

Other issues  current gap for crimes against businesses in crime victimisation surveys ƒneeded for costs of crime to the community  currently working with justice agencies to get better indigenous victims and offenders data