Measuring Crime

Question 1

Official Crime Statistics (OCS):

Answer 1

statistics produced from police, court and prison records as well as from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW).

Question 2

Police recorded crime figures:

Answer 2

supplies by 43 police forces of England and Wales plus the British transport police and are usually used as a definitive measure of crime.

Question 3

4 strengths of Police Recorded Crime Statistics:

Answer 3

easy to access

up-to-date and standardised

they cover the whole population so trends and patterns can be identified

they provide ‘whole counts’ rather than estimates

Question 4

4 weakness of Police Recorded Crime Statistics:

Answer 4

they don’t included undetected or unreported crimes

they don’t include unrecorded crimes, not including the Dark Figure of Crime

they don’t provide a complete picture about each crime as some information isn’t collected

the accuracy may vary between areas as some police forces have a target to meet