Rough Justice: Wrong focus says new report

The government's focus on persistent offenders is undermining the drive against serious crime, a new report has warned.

In a new study the Crime and Society Foundation warns that offences such as domestic violence, sexual assaults and acts against children do not come to the attention of the authorities.

As a result the government's strategy to focus on known offenders is likely to see their crimes being ignored.

The paper also argues that government spin on crime figures is "misleading and counterproductive".

It says that ministers regularly assert that some 100,000 persistent offenders are responsible for half of all crime.

Incorrect

The foundation argues that claims suggesting 5,000 prolific offenders commit nearly 10 per cent of all crime is "manifestly incorrect"

"They are based on information about those convicted of crime, not those who commit it," says the study.

"Less than three per cent of known crime results in an offender being successfully prosecuted."

The paper goes on to criticise the government's use of the authoritative British Crime Survey (BCS).

"Though a more accurate measure of some crime than statistics recorded by the police, the BCS tells us little or nothing about a range of crimes, including sexual assaults, crimes against children, and white collar crime," says the study.

"As a result the use made of it by ministers as a basis for claims about crime as a whole stretches credibility."

It goes on to warn that politicians and other opinion formers should be "much more honest" about the limitations of the criminal justice system in dealing with crime.

Richard Garside, director of the foundation, added: "Pulling in the usual suspects is not the same as targeting the most serious offenders, or those who cause the most harm.

"Serious offences such as domestic violence, sexual assaults, offences against children and white collar crime are not adequately measured by official statistics.

"They are often never resolved, while many of those who commit such offences are never held accountable for their actions.

"Effective crime reduction policy should be based on a clear understanding of the variety and diversity of crime.

"Government and opposition spinning on crime figures neither aids democratic debate nor helps to inform effective policy."