NCJ Number
223678
Journal
Crime Prevention & Community Safety: An International Journal Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 150-157
Date Published
July 2008
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the work being done in developing a new national crime database for England and Wales that will contain information on individual crimes and their geographic location.
Abstract
The features of the new database will enable a more detailed analysis of the circumstances of crimes than is possible with the data contained in the current crime database. The first step toward improving the crime data recorded by police involved 3 years of independent data auditing by the Audit Commission. A second step was having each police force appoint a Force Crime Registrar (FCR) outside the operational line of command. A third step was to have the National Crime Registrar work with the policing statistics team in coordinating advice to FCRs and updating and clarifying the Home Office Counting rules. By September 2007, the Audit Commission was able to report that "The police have continued to make significant improvements in crime recording performance and now have better quality crime data than ever before." During 2008/2009, the new Home Office Data Hub is set for completion. This system is designed to collect individual crime data from police instead of summaries for geographic areas, to reduce the bureaucratic burden on police forces, and to provide a richer data source in order to understand and interpret crime trends. The Home Office Data Hub will be used in a pilot collection of data on crime that involves domestic violence as an aggravating factor; on commercial burglary by location; on violent crime and disorder in the "night-time economy," using location and time information; and hate crime, using "flags" and offense details. 3 figures, 7 notes, and 10 references