The Independent Review of Crime Statistics

Abstract

This article summarises and discusses the main findings from a recently completed Independent Review of Crime Statistics. The Review focused upon the use of crime statistics and their fitness for purpose with particular attention paid to the needs of ‘the public’. The main conclusion was that the ongoing development of crime statistics is hampered by a confusion of means (technical discussions about crime statistics that focus on their interpretation and reliability) and ends (conceptual discussions about the purposes and interests of different groups in using crime statistics).