Crime stats – too little too late?
I have always wondered why the police are so secretive about their crime stats.
Once a year, we go through this big hoo-ha where we are informed if rape, murder, robbery etc are up or down. Then statements are released and action plans announced, and then we wait another year to see if any of the plans put in place worked. For me, this is too late. The public should know on a regular basis what the crime statistics in their area are and what they need to be concerned about.
Yes, if you attend a Community Policing Forum meeting you will get a few numbers here and there, but these are invariably crime percentages which can be extremely misleading as they are based on policing targets and not the actual crimes committed.
I don’t for a second doubt that the police know what they are doing and there must be reasons as to why these figures are not forthcoming, but in my view, the public has a right to know, and a right be be informed. I’m not suggesting that these figures be released every week, but surely we can do better than once a year.
That said, I do believe that certain crime strategies put in place have been a huge success. The sector vehicles in each area have made the world of difference and although I’ll admit there were many speed bumps along the way, I believe that this is one of the strategies that we can say has worked. The sector commanders and officers I have dealt with have been efficient, and I would urge all community members to have their sector vehicle numbers on their phones and fridges – you never know when you are going to need them.
