An Analysis of Data On Rape Crimes

An Analysis of Data On Rape Crimes Introduction I will comment on the value of data and highlight advantages and disadvantages of this data and finally and come up with appropriate business actions that could be taken and enable Russex constabulary to help prioritise their work. Methods of data collection Official statistics are those published by the central Government. This source of statistical information informs the general public about the extent of ‘notifiable offences’. Official statistics are easy and cheap to access as you can observe them on the Home Office web page. The second source of statistical information comes from the British Crime Survey (BCS). These statistics are ‘unofficial’ and the procedures used to gather information are completely different to the first, as the statistical data comes from surveys carried out by the public themselves. The statistics given are based on a large representative sample of the general public about their experiences as victims of household and personal crime. The BCS endeavours to provide a count of crime that consists of episodes not reported to the police, therefore examining the â€Å"dark figure† of crime which is not recorded in official statistics. The British Crime Survey (BCS) is a large random survey of private households, designed to give a count of crime that includes incidents not reported to the police, or those reported to them but not recorded. The main BCS interview takes place face-to-face, with no gender matching of interviewer and respondent. This context is not conducive to accurately measuring levels of highly personal victimisation. Estimates of the level of sexual victimisation obtained by the main BCS are acknowledged to be underestimates Consequently, the survey now makes use of Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI), whereby respondents keyed their responses into a laptop computer themselves. This method provides respondents with an increased sense of confidentiality and minimises ‘interviewer effects’. Respondents who answered the self-completion modules were routed through a series of three ‘screener’ questions, designed to identify whether or not they had been a victim of a sexual offence. If they responded positively to one or more of these, they then answered a series of follow-up questions, designed to elicit the exact nature of the ‘last incident’ experienced. Data as a management tool Data collection is practical because you cannot manage what you do not measure. Statistics from data enables a police department to make smart judgments and assists them in possibly identifying department and procedural problems. Data collection is also a great gesture to the community, showing law enforcement has the willingness to take an inward look to prevent discrimination. It also displays a true commitment by law enforcement to address community concerns and needs. Data collection gives everyone something to work with even t hough it might be just a partial solution. With mandatory data collection, officers will be forced to think about what happens during an encounter and what they do and say and possibly what parts should be looked at closer. Data collection provide a basis for important policy changes. Statistical techniques Line Graph A line graph is most useful in displaying data or information that changes continuously over time. The example below shows the Rape of a female from 1993-2005/06