Official statistics- unreliable as only around 25% of offences are included. The other 75% are unreported to police or are unrecorded by police (the dark figure). A study in the borough of Nottinghamshire found that people were more likely than other regions to record thefts of under £10 which explained an apparent 'spike' of thefts in that area (Farrington and Dowds). Therefore, policing priorities may distort the official figures. However, they can help show where most crime is occuring across the country so crime prevention strategies can be developed
Victim surveys- greater degree of accuracy than official statistics as they may include details of crimes that were not reported to the police. For example, 2006/7 official statistics suggested a 2% decrease in crime from the previous year whereas the British Crime Survey showed a 3% increase. However, 'telescoping' may occur where a victim may misremember an event as happening in the past year when it did not
Offender surveys- provide insight into how many people are responsible for certain offences. However, responses may be unreliable as offenders may want to conceal some of the more serious crimes they have committed or exaggerate the numbers for reasons of bravado. Also, crimes such as burgalry are overrepresented in the survey which means that 'middle-class' offences such as fraud are unlikely to be included
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