Crime statistics – It’s not just the cops

This is almost a continuation of my post about apathy.

I’ve heard it over and over again, how the police and the government play around with crime statistics to make themselves look good. Stories abound, about rooms full of dockets going to mould, dockets disappearing, police refusing to open dockets at police stations when the public goes to report crime. The list goes on.

However, to tell you the truth, I’ve heard just as many stories where the public, after a crime has been committed, don’t go through the trouble of reporting the crime. Doubtless the above mentioned factors play around in the publics mind when they have to report a crime, but the fact remains that an unreported crime helps the criminals, not the police or the public.

Remember that the police have no way of knowing that there is a problem, even with petty criminal activity, if these crimes are not reported. It’s a vicious circle, and the only person who can break it is the victim.

Some crimes, especially those that are committed within a household, cannot be solved by putting more cops on the street. Yet reporting them can still get them stopped in other ways, such as through direct police or social services intervention.

The best way to report an incident is still to go to the police station and report it there. By going to the police station instead of waiting for a police vehicle to come out to your house, you are freeing up that vehicles time.

Remember to log onto the Together Against Crime forum at http://www.togetheragainstcrime.net/forum/index.php

Stay safe
LeonDude