Crime Reduction & Community Safety: Strategies and Impact

UNIT 8: CRIME
REDUCTION &
COMMUNITY SAFETY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNIT 8: CRIME REDUCTION & COMMUNITY SAFETY TABLE OF CONTENTS...................1
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
Section – 1............................................................................................................................................3
Crime recording by police and its comparison from CSEW............................................................3
Analysis of Strengths and weaknesses of police recorded crime and CSEW in measuring crime
rates..................................................................................................................................................3
Section – 2............................................................................................................................................4
Impact of crimes on victims and communities.................................................................................4
Multi agency policing and its benefits.............................................................................................5
Section – 3............................................................................................................................................6
Evaluation of effectiveness of national and local crime reduction strategies towards community
safety................................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Crime reduction and community safety is majorly associated with the police department of
the concerned jurisdiction. Police officers operating in the particular region are responsible for
ensuring that there must be appropriate strategy towards reducing criminal acts in place in order to
reduce crime in that particular region (Geldenhuys, 2018). This can be done through enforcing the
laws and regulations made by the government towards protecting and ensuring safety of the
community. In the present report, in the context of UK, it will be explained that how crimes are
recorded, adoption of community policing philosophy and various crime reduction strategy and
their effectiveness are explained.
Section – 1
Crime recording by police and its comparison from CSEW
Home secretary requires police constables in England to provide crime related statistical data in the
prescribed form. For this an independent body known as Crime Statistics Advisory Committee has
been formed in 2012, following the suggestions of National Statistician’s Review of Crime
Statistics. CSAC, is a body at higher level meant for advising ONS and HMIC on specific matters
related to how crime should be measured, collected and presented for England and Wales. The data
so recorded by police related to crimes must be in adherence to the section 44 of the Police Act
1996 and accordingly known as notifiable crime (Mummolo, 2018). The first principle that has
been followed by police authority is to register the report of crimes from victims, witnesses or any
third party. As and when the victim reports to police regarding any kind of crimes, the police
officers are required to record the crime on the basis of victim’s statement to the police. The two
prior conditions for recording crime is the situation so reported must be identified by police based
on their knowledge of the law that it must be accounted as a crime along with reasonable evidence
for the same.
CSEW is a face to face survey where residents of England and Wales area asked about their
experience of any form of crime in the preceding 12 months. So, CSEW records both types of
crimes, that is, reported and unreported and thus utilized alongside the police recorded crimes to
obtain more comprehensive picture. It aims to measure the extent of crimes by interviewing
residents regarding their experience of the crime, such as assaults and burglary and drug offences.
The survey provides valuable information by measuring the nature and extent of crimes in England
and Wales. However, the survey majorly records unreported crimes, thus unable to provide perfect
and complete figures of the crime. The basic purpose of CSEW is to facilitate national level analysis
while police recorded crime is meant for facilitating regional level analysis of the crime. It provides
for better indicator of trends over long term with reference to the type of crime associated with the
concerned population as it is independent of the police recording practices of crime.
Analysis of Strengths and weaknesses of police recorded crime and CSEW in measuring crime rates
Two sources for recording crimes which can be compared with each other are used within UK in
order to measure the rates of crime. Police recorded crime includes offences that are notifiable
committed over a certain period of time within the region under the constable officer. Here the
crime statistics are obtained, collated, analysed and presented through official publications in the
year. On the other hand, second method for recording crime is CSEW is a form of statistical
research, established with purpose of having complementary system beside police records. It serves
dual aspects that is, collecting intelligence of public regarding various forms of crimes and their
views related to judicial system (Hunter, May and Hough, 2017).
Strengths of police recorded crime