Comparing measurements of violent crime in local communities: a case study in Islington, London

IF 1.4 Q2 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Police Practice and Research Pub Date : 2022-03-16 DOI:10.1080/15614263.2022.2047047

David Buil-Gil, I. brunton-smith, J. Pina-Sánchez, A. Cernat

{"title":"Comparing measurements of violent crime in local communities: a case study in Islington, London","authors":"David Buil-Gil, I. brunton-smith, J. Pina-Sánchez, A. Cernat","doi":"10.1080/15614263.2022.2047047","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Police-recorded crime data are prone to measurement error, affecting our understanding of the nature of crime. Research has responded to this problem using data from surveys and emergency services. These data sources are not error-free, and data from different sources are not always easily comparable. This study compares violent crime data recorded by police, ambulance services, two surveys and computer simulations in Islington, London. Different data sources show remarkably different results. However, crime estimates become more similar, but still show different distributions, when crime rates are calculated using workday population as the denominator and log-transformed. Normalising crime rates by workday population controls for the fact that some data sources reflect offences’ location while others refer to victims’ residence, and log-transforming rates mitigates the biasing effect associated with some multiplicative forms of measurement error. Comparing multiple data sources allows for more accurate descriptions of the prevalence and distribution of crime.","PeriodicalId":47167,"journal":{"name":"Police Practice and Research","volume":"60 1","pages":"489 - 506"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Police Practice and Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2022.2047047","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Police-recorded crime data are prone to measurement error, affecting our understanding of the nature of crime. Research has responded to this problem using data from surveys and emergency services. These data sources are not error-free, and data from different sources are not always easily comparable. This study compares violent crime data recorded by police, ambulance services, two surveys and computer simulations in Islington, London. Different data sources show remarkably different results. However, crime estimates become more similar, but still show different distributions, when crime rates are calculated using workday population as the denominator and log-transformed. Normalising crime rates by workday population controls for the fact that some data sources reflect offences’ location while others refer to victims’ residence, and log-transforming rates mitigates the biasing effect associated with some multiplicative forms of measurement error. Comparing multiple data sources allows for more accurate descriptions of the prevalence and distribution of crime.

查看原文本刊更多论文

比较当地社区暴力犯罪的测量方法:以伦敦伊斯灵顿为例

警方记录的犯罪数据容易出现计量误差，影响我们对犯罪性质的认识。研究人员利用调查和紧急服务的数据对这一问题作出了回应。这些数据源并非没有错误，而且来自不同来源的数据并不总是容易比较。这项研究比较了伦敦伊斯灵顿警察、救护车服务、两次调查和计算机模拟记录的暴力犯罪数据。不同的数据来源显示出明显不同的结果。然而，当犯罪率以工作日人口为分母并进行对数变换时，犯罪估计变得更加相似，但仍然显示出不同的分布。通过工作日人口控制使犯罪率正常化，因为一些数据来源反映了犯罪的地点，而另一些则涉及受害者的住所，并且对数转换率减轻了与一些乘法形式的测量误差相关的偏倚效应。比较多个数据来源可以更准确地描述犯罪的流行程度和分布。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Police Practice and Research CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY-

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

5.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Police Practice and Research is a peer-reviewed journal that presents current and innovative police research as well as operational and administrative practices from around the world. Articles and reports are sought from practitioners, researchers and others interested in developments in policing, analysis of public order, and the state of safety as it affects the quality of life everywhere. Police Practice and Research seeks to bridge the gap in knowledge that exists regarding who the police are, what they do, and how they maintain order, administer laws, and serve their communities. Attention will also be focused on specific organizational information about the police in different countries or regions. There will be periodic special issues devoted to a particular country or continent.