Under-recording of crime is not acceptable
Thursday, 01 May, 2014
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 highlightedweak 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."
