Essay Sample on Official Crime Data

How important is it to use official crime data?

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Official crime data is created by what the police record and by the criminal justice system. It is essential to use official crime data since they are the main source of information concerning trends and patterns in criminality as well as victimization. Official crime data is easy and affordable to access it, and therefore less effort is required to get it. Official crime data is recent and therefore provides a clear picture of what is happening at a particular point in time. The data is collected in a systematic, standardized and scientific way and therefore it is reliable since it can also be verified. It is possible to compare different groups. Further, using official crime data allows researchers or other persons to avoid ethical issues since they do not get into direct contact with the criminals (MacDonald, 2002).

What are some issues with using official crime data?

Not all crimes are reported or acted upon by the police and therefore relying on official crime data do not provide information regarding all sorts of crimes that occur in society. There are dangerous and severe activities that occur but are never reported by the police and therefore relying on the data may not give an actual picture. Some of these activities include vandalism, violence against women and children in the home environment, robbery of property in the workplace and other crimes. Further, the crimes that are recorded include murder, rape, and robbery and are mostly committed by the young men who are uneducated, unemployed and those from minority groups. Crimes that are committed by the rich and powerful are not recorded. The statistics are sometimes inaccurate due to inconsistencies that occur during recording and also there is deliberate tampering with the information (Mosher, Miethe & Hart, 2010).

What public policy changes could be made by relying upon the 2 articles?

It is important to create policies that would encourage people to report the crime. Discrimination of African Americans by the criminal justice system makes it hard for victims to report perpetrators (Miller, 2003). A policy should be created that is grounded on prevention and intervention programs that are founded on African American popular culture. A policy needs to be created that would ensure that people accused of misdemeanor offenses are not arrested instead are summoned to appear to decrease the number of people admitted in the jail system to reduce overcrowding (Baumer & Adams, 2006).

The relevant bible verse is "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40:29. This bible verse teaches that it is essential to fight for the weak and the poor because God is not pleased when they are oppressed.

References

Baumer, T. L., & Adams, K. (2006). Controlling a jail population by partially closing the front door: An evaluation of a "summons in lieu of arrest" policy. The Prison Journal, 86(3), 386-402.

MacDonald, Z. (2002). Official crime statistics: their use and interpretation. The Economic Journal, 112(477), F85-F106.

Miller, J. (2003). An arresting experiment: Domestic violence victim experiences and perceptions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18(7), 695-716.

Mosher, C. J., Miethe, T. D., & Hart, T. C. (2010). The mismeasure of crime.