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Editorial

Editorial The Statistical Shroud THE LACK of accurate and reliable criminal statistics .in Australia con­ tinues to be a major barrier to an objective appraisal of the crime problem in this country. Despite a widespread belief that there' has been a con­ siderable increase in crime throughout Australia in recent years, the nature and extent of this increase remains shrouded in police files. While some attempt has been made to remove this shroud by publishing in the Commonwealth Year Book uniform crime statistics relating to certain index crimes, the benefits of uniform police recording practices have yet to be seen in the statistics published in the annual reports of State Police Commissioners. In particular, the statistics produced in the New South Wales Police Commissioner's Report suggest that the police in that State are still adopting some unique recording practice which results in figures showing that the incidence of serious crime is about half that in Victoria. At the same time the clear up rate for serious crime in New South Wales is said to be almost double that in Victoria. Even to the casual observer, such dis­ parities cannot possibly be explained in terms of greater police efficiency in New http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology SAGE

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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © by SAGE Publications
ISSN
0004-8658
eISSN
1837-9273
DOI
10.1177/000486586800100401
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The Statistical Shroud THE LACK of accurate and reliable criminal statistics .in Australia con­ tinues to be a major barrier to an objective appraisal of the crime problem in this country. Despite a widespread belief that there' has been a con­ siderable increase in crime throughout Australia in recent years, the nature and extent of this increase remains shrouded in police files. While some attempt has been made to remove this shroud by publishing in the Commonwealth Year Book uniform crime statistics relating to certain index crimes, the benefits of uniform police recording practices have yet to be seen in the statistics published in the annual reports of State Police Commissioners. In particular, the statistics produced in the New South Wales Police Commissioner's Report suggest that the police in that State are still adopting some unique recording practice which results in figures showing that the incidence of serious crime is about half that in Victoria. At the same time the clear up rate for serious crime in New South Wales is said to be almost double that in Victoria. Even to the casual observer, such dis­ parities cannot possibly be explained in terms of greater police efficiency in New

Journal

Australian & New Zealand Journal of CriminologySAGE

Published: Dec 1, 1968

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