Under-recording of crime is not acceptable
7 May 2014 11:45 AM
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate
of Constabulary (HMIC) has published its interim report on crime data integrity
which carried out inspections in 13 police forces. The inspection raised
concerns that potentially a fifth of crimes In England and Wales could be going
unrecorded by the police. HMIC also highlighted weak or
absent management and supervision of crime-recording.
The inspection found that 14
alleged rapes were among the offences that had not been recorded by
officers.
Representing the three
groups, Tony Lloyd, Chairman of The APCC Board and Greater Manchester PCC, Sir
Graham Bright, Cambridgeshire PCC and Ron Ball, Warwickshire PCC
said:
“There are no excuses for
lacking a victim focus when making crime-recording decisions. Police and Crime
Commissioners are working to establish better services for victims in the
criminal justice system and are scrutinising force performance to ensure those
who want to report a crime feel confident to speak out. We are working closely
with Chief Constables to ensure better consistency and scrutiny of crime
recording at a local level.
“There are significant
variations across the country and we need to await the full crime data report
before we can accurately assess the extent of under-reporting of crime across
England and Wales, but Police and Crime Commissioners are not complacent about
the challenge to improve recording. It is concerning to read HMIC’s claim
that a fifth of crime could be going unrecorded. The current figures should be
assessed alongside the data produced independently by the British Crime Survey
which does not rely on recording by the police. That in no way detracts from
the public being entitled to open, honest and accurate recording of crime by
police forces.”