2. 1 Criminal Statistics L.O: Identify sources of official criminal statistics Identify trends Analyse reliability & limitations of official crime stats Starter: Compare your crime stats with your partner: 1)What is your source? 2)What trends can you identify? 3)What are the similarities and differences?

3. 2 Official Crime Figures Crimes are reported and detected by the general public. Sometimes the police catch people in the act of committing crimes Government Home Office creates statistics based on reported & recorded crime. I work for the home office and compile all the statistics which come from the local police stations. These are then published by the Government.

4. 3 Are crime figures reliable? Well actually the crime figures which we see and hear about everyday are not very accurate at all so why is this? Well the figures must be correct. I read them in the newspaper and they are published by the Government

5. 4 Only half of all crimes are reported by the public to the police Only 3 in 10 crimes are recorded by the police How do you think these statement will influences the reliability of criminal statistics?

6. 5 Has the crime been witnessed or discovered in the first place? Has it been defined as a crime? Has anyone reported it to the police? Have the police recorded it as a crime? Police recorded crime statistics Yes No Dark figure of Crime

7. 6 Why are crime figures inaccurate? People do not always report crime for a number of reasons They think it is too trivial They do not know the crime has been committed They may be embarrassed by the crime They may know the offender They may fear reprisals They may not trust the police Unreported crimes are sometimes called “The dark figures of crime” The police do not record all crime because The crime is too trivial They do not have enough evidence to act on They may not trust the person reporting the crime They use their discretion and give a quiet warning They may want to keep figures low and the clear up rate looking good

8. 7