Police criticise their own crime figures

At the recent public meeting of Stonebridge Park Tenants & Residents Association held on Wednesday evening, local Beat Manager PC Paul Dean for our area of St Ann’s, informed residents that “the crime figures published on the Stonebridge Park website painted an inaccurate picture of the true level of crime around the estate.”

However, the crime maps and crime figures published on the Stonebridge Park website are all accurate and are reproduced precisely from the Nottinghamshire Polices’ local crime, policing and criminal justice website each month; shown above.

PC Dean informed me afterwards that “the crime maps and Police figures often refer to antisocial behaviour, ASB, on a particular street. When residents see ASB marked on their street, straight away they think of a group of teens intimidating local people antisocially. However, it may just be a youth sitting in a car playing load music.

“Also if the Police raid a house and find a small quantity of drugs on the premises, it is recorded as Drugs on the police website which looks bad, yet it may only have been a small incident.

“The published crime figures therefore tend to paint a black picture of Stonebridge Park, when the estate is really a nice neighbourhood.”

The government Home Office is headed by Home Secretary Theresa May who has the task of reducing the level of crime in local communities like our Stonebridge Park Estate.

I contacted the Home Office today and asked them if their policing and criminal justice website “painted an inaccurate picture of housing estates, as the crime figures & maps were misleading”?

I was informed that “the local crime, policing and criminal justice website was developed to provide the public with access to key crime and policing information, in a way they want and in a way that allows them to raise issues or take an active role in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Since its launch in January 2011, the website has given the public access to street-level crime and anti-social behaviour data. With over 50 million visits, and an average of 150,000 hits per day, it is one of the most popular government websites. It is updated monthly with new data released from police forces around the country including Nottinghamshire Police.

“Yes the website is accurate, and in the case of St Ann’s, is compiled from Nottinghamshire Police records of the local crime in the area.

“The site provides helpful information about crime and policing in your area. It has also been designed to help police officers to promote street level crime maps.”

That’s alright then ? 

By Richard Pearson