Estimating the Reliability of Crime Data in Geographic Areas

Crime data are problematic: Crimes that are never reported undermine its validity and differences in police recording practices affect its reliability. However, the true extent of these problems is not well known, with existing studies suffering from a number of methodological limitations. We examin...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Brunton-Smith, Ian (VerfasserIn)
Beteiligte: Cernat, Alexandru ; Pina-Sánchez, Jose ; Buil-Gil, David
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 2024
In: The British journal of criminology
Jahr: 2024, Band: 64, Heft: 6, Seiten: 1347-1361
Online-Zugang: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Schlagwörter:
Criminal
Statistics
Reliability
Validity
regions
UK
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Crime data are problematic: Crimes that are never reported undermine its validity and differences in police recording practices affect its reliability. However, the true extent of these problems is not well known, with existing studies suffering from a number of methodological limitations. We examine the quality of police recorded crime data and survey-based crime estimates recorded in England and Wales using a robust latent trait model that effectively represents the competing sources of error. We find that whilst crime rates derived from police data systematically underestimate the true extent of crime, they are substantially more reliable than estimates from survey data. Reliability is lower for violence and criminal damage and is getting worse over time.
ISSN:1464-3529
DOI:10.1093/bjc/azae018