2 - Police Recorded Crime Flashcards
How many police forces are there in England and Wales?
Over 43
Out of 100 crimes committed how many will be reported and recorded?
According to criminologists, out of 100 crimes committed, 47% will be reported to the police, 27% will be recorded by the police, and 5% will be cleared up in the form of a conviction
What is the dark figure of crime?
Crime that is unrecorded and might not even be known about
Give an example of how different police forces may deal with crime differently
In 1981, Nottinghamshire appeared to be the most criminal area in the country, but this was because they counted theft as stealing a money value of £10 or less
What is coughing?
This is when an offender is encouraged to admit to committing many offences in return for being charged with a less serious offence and a lesser sentence. This helps the police force because they have a higher, “clear up rate”
What is cuffing?
This refers to crimes which have been reported and initially recorded, but are then removed from the statistics at a later date. This could be because the police officer did not believe the victim, or after further investigation no crime was believed to have taken place
What is skewing?
This involves some police forces putting their resources into some areas/locations rather than other ones. This could be because some areas have a high crime rate, or some areas might be measured by performance indicators (how much the crime rate has reduced). Therefore the crime statistics tend to be skewed in some areas
Positive AO3 points of Police Recorded Crime
Cheap and readily available
Valid and upto date
Functionalists would support the use of police
recorded crime because the statistics are social facts
that measure behaviour through quantitative methods
Negative AO3 points of Police Recorded Crime
Crimes that are not recognised as crimes by the victim are not recorded Marxists would criticise the use of police recorded crime and say that this is a tool used to control the working class and to justify their control and oppression. Police statistics are used to scare the population about crime and justify the use of extra policing
