Under-reporting polishes police statistics
16 February 2012
RECENTLY, policemen manipulating crime statistics made headlines. There is however a more subtle but very effective way to achieve lowering of crime numbers reported by the police.
We live on a farm in the Northern Cape. One of the couples employed by us can be regarded as model citizens, in that they work diligently and, unlike the majority, also save money for all kinds of appliances. Despite the fact that we treat our staff well and also pay them well, one must still regard these people as relatively poor.
The wife recently went to Kuruman to buy some goods. To do so, she went to an ATM to draw some money.
Not far from the ATM she was robbed by three thugs at knife-point of R1500 of hard-earned cash. Friends advised her not to go to the police, as "they would not do anything anyway”.
The friends also pointed out that these thugs came from Vryburg. One of them has a scar across the face, so he would be relatively easy to identify. Most people in the community seem to know these criminals, except the police.
It made me realise that this was one of the crimes not reported, due to the perception that it does not achieve anything. Just the opposite, the thugs might be released and will take revenge.
The more often the police are not responding, the more disillusioned the public becomes and the less crime gets reported.
When deducting the number of crimes reported where people just get a case number for their insurance claim, the picture becomes even more favourable for the police. This seems to be the only institution in the country, where results (statistics) are getting better by them doing less and less.
By doing nothing at all, no crime might get reported any longer in future and then we can proudly claim to be living in a crime-free country.
To me it appears that the police have found the magic wand to influence crime statistics favourably without being accused of illegal manipulation.
Helmuth Fischer, Northern Cape
