Impact of Crime and Effectiveness of Strategies in Public Safety

Criminal Law

Scenario
Public confidence is considered as a major priority for all public services. It is considered as
essential for police to be integral to this that they are known to be effectively dealing with crime
and disorder. Being a new police officer, as a part of my probation period, I have been asked to
investigate the impact of crime and effectiveness of strategies in order to reduce it as well as to
increase public safety.
Recording of crime, incidents, categorization and classification of crimes
The police forces in England & Wales works in line with the “National Crime Recording
Standard” (NCRS) for the crime recording purpose aiming victim focused approach. All the
reports of incidents whether they are related to crime or not, either from sufferers, witnesses or
third parties, are registered as an auditable case report by the police. A case is recorded as a
crime or offence to be notified in the category of ‘victim related offences’ if the circumstances of
victims indicate crime as mentioned under law determined by police and if there is no
trustworthy evidence to the contradictory aspect. In order to justify the recording of a crime,
statement or belief by victim or by a person acting in supporting the sufferer regarding the
occurrence of the crime, is sufficient (HMICFRS, 2017). On the other hand, for the ‘offences
against the state’ it is essential to present evidences of the offence before recording of the crime.
Another category is the recording of crimes for offenders aged less than 10 years, wherein, the
matter is under the consideration of Chief Officers to decide whether to investigate any such
report or not. Similarly, when the offender is mentally disable and inefficient to provide essential
criminal intent i.e. ‘Mens Rea’, all the reports of crime are documented only by the police.

Classification of a crime recorded requires to be made during recording, which is where the
crime is recorded, a nominated officer and the Force Crime Reporter (FCR) examine the crime
record in order to get satisfied that the procedure has been commenced precisely. It will be
determined by the police if the circumstances that have been reported accounts to crime as
defined under law on the basis of their knowledge of law and about the rules. The police record
the crime even if victim refuses to support investigation or prosecution of crime but confirms
that the crime has taken place. It is upon the discretion of the police if it is essential to record the
crime without victim confirmation.
All the recorded crimes are allocated with one of the mentioned outcome types. In this context,
Outcome Type 1 occurs when a person has been accused for a crime notwithstanding any
successive release from the court after the case is presented to the Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS). Outcome Type 1A occurs when a person has been accused for the crime but subsequent
to the application of CPS principles and provisions for charging of Home Office Counting Rules
for Recorded Crime (HOCR) and the charges or summons are related to an alternative offence
notwithstanding subsequent acquittal. Outcome Type 2 occurs when a youth has been warned by
police. Outcome Type 2A occurs when young delinquent has been warned by the police but
subsequent to the claim of the CPS standards as well as the requirements of the HOCR, the
restraint is related to a different crime to that has been documented. Outcome type 3A is also
similar to 2A. Outcome Type 4 is when the offender confesses the offence through a pace
compliant interview and is asked for the consideration by the court. Outcome Type 5 is said to
have been occurred if the offender dies. Outcome Type 6 includes a penalty notice for complaint
has been legally dispensed under section 1 to 11 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
Outcome Type 7 is a cautionary issued when cannabis or khat possession has been granted in