The reasons why not all crime is
recorded is as follows:
Not all ‘known’ offences
are entered into official
figures because
Police priorities - The
types of crimes the
police focus on affect
the detection rate.
Police priorities come
from media,
government and
pressure group
concerns.
Reporting and non- This can be due to one of several
reasons:
reporting of crimes
1. When people evade paying
Income Tax or business people
VAT the Inland Revenue
negotiates proceeding and not
the police
2. ‘Trivial’ offences such as shop-
lifting or other minor losses are
not necessarily recorded
3. Some domestic disputes are
seen by the police as just that,
‘domestic disputes’ and nothing
more
4. Some fraud cases are dealt with
in the civil courts rather than the
criminal courts
1. The emphasis on speed cameras
has taken the number of police
traffic patrols of the roads
reducing the number of traffic
offences recorded by the police
2. Contrast this with the increase in
police targeting the incidence of
paedophilia. This has resulted in
increased detection rates for this
crime
1. Ignorance that a crime has
been committed;
2. a victim is powerless;
3. the offence may be seen as
trivial;
4. the victim may be concerned
the offence isn’t taken
seriously;
5. ethnic factors;
The worksheet beneath allows you to explore each of the five
reasons in the least section of the above table. Please complete
this sheet before reading further.

A crime might not be A supporting example

reported because: is:
Ignorance that a crime has been
committed

a victim is powerless

the offence may be seen as trivial

the victim may be concerned the

offence isn’t taken seriously

ethnic factors