POLICE and Crime Commissioner John Dwyer is backing calls for a Home Office review into crime recording.
He would welcome a review of the current system, and at his most recent public scrutiny meeting with Cheshire’s Chief Constable, Mark Roberts, and assistant chief constables, he made his views clear that a change is needed.
Nationally, chief constlables are to write to the Home Office to request a review of crime recording, it is understood.
Mr Dwyer said: “I agree that crime recording needs to be looked at by the Home Office. I am pleased that this issue has been raised on a national level because it affects forces across the country and merits a public discussion.
“As part of my Police and Crime Plan I want to improve public confidence in policing, and that includes the accurate reporting of crime. The last thing we want to happen here in Cheshire is for the public to get the wrong impression about crime levels and for their confidence in the police to suffer as a result.”
Under the current system, one crime can have numerous sub-crimes attributed to it. An example given by John Dwyer related to an incident involving seven people, which caused a public disturbance. In the first instance it was recorded as an affray, however under that recording, each offender would have an assault tag against the other six attached to the record, meaning there were 42 assaults and one affray, all from the same incident.
Mr Dwyer said: “The example I put to the Chief Constable demonstrates the current flaws in the system. Crime should recorded in the most efficient way possible and dealt with accordingly. This prevents inflation of figures for certain types of crime that do not accurately reflect what has happened. I hope the Home Office will conduct a review and find a suitable solution that benefits everyone and improves public confidence in the police.”
