Methods and measures

Every one of us has heard, probably in the recent past, about the rising rate of crime. But what is the crime rate in America today? Oddly enough, nobody really knows. Police statistics are our primary source of information about crime. But what do those statistics actually mean? When a police department reports that the crime rate is up, people in the community often react with fear and dismay. But such reports may not reflect an actual increase in crime. Instead they may mean that more criminals are being caught – or they may indicate that more people are reporting crimes.

At present we have no truly reliable measure of criminal activity. Many crimes go unreported – rape victims, for example, often are ashamed to talk to the police. The statistics don’t include undetected crimes like bribery of customs officials. And since many crimes are. never solved, the number of arrests does not tell us much. For many other crimes, however, arrest seldom leads to conviction. For example, only about one-quarter of all burglaries and auto thefts are “cleared” when a suspect is brought in. Obvi­ously, the official figures conceal a vast reservoir of undetected, unreported, and unrecorded crime.

According to the most conservative estimate, one in every ten people is a victim of a crime each year – a figure 400 percent higher than that reported by the police.

Dramatic as these estimates are, they’re probably still too low. Surveys of victims are valuable – both in theory and in practice. From a theoretical standpoint, improved surveys will make it possible to relate the experience of being a victim to various sociological factors – such as income, education, and race – as well as to such psychological factors as fear of crime and attitude toward law enforcement. In other words, it should be possible to get a good picture of the victim. And perhaps we’ll find out whether some people are more likely than others to be the targets of crime.

From a practical standpoint, the survey should give some accurate information on crime rates. When an increase in crime is reported, the average citizen often concludes that the police aren’t doing their job. In fact, the opposite is often true. A low crime rate may simply mean that the police are overlooking a good deal of criminal activity. Surveys on victimization could give the public a better picture of what the police are actually doing about crime.

Jane Barrons

/from “Studying Crime by Studying its victims”/

Третье место за воровство

Оказывается, одним из самых выгодных видов бизнеса сегодня (после наркобизнеса и компьютерных краж) является воровство произведений искусства, ежегодный денежный оборот – шесть миллионно долларов. В Нью-Йорке за 88-90-е годы количество таких краж увеличилось на триста процентов. Ежегодно пять тысяч картин крадут в Великобритании. Только за 90-й год из музеев Европы исчезло шестьдесят тысяч произведений. Хотя системы сигнализации постоянно совершенствуются, они не способны поправить положение: восемьдесят процентов краж происходят в дневное время, когда в залах полно посетителей, зато сигнализация отключена. Покупателями же украденного оказываются не только мафиози, приобретающие шедевры для удовлетворения своего тщеславия, но и, как выяснилось, знаменитые музеи, такие, как Метрополитен, и престижные дома аукционов, как Сотби.

Л.М. Кузнецова, Ж.Л. Ширяева