Crime maps, aid to us or villains?

NEW crime maps showing offences committed in every neighbourhood have been hailed for empowering communities. But critics claim they don’t give enough information and could even help criminals.

Richard Hooton reports

CRIME statistics can be controversial, used by politicians to demonstrate the success or failure of policies or even blamed for fuelling the fear of crime.

But they are often eagerly awaited by the public and media to see how well police are cracking down on criminals and the general state of society.

The new crime maps now give residents detailed information whenever they want, simply by logging on to their local force’s website.

All 43 forces across England and Wales are publishing the internet maps, which show levels of burglary, car crime, robbery and other offences.

They will find an array of graphs for each area giving up-to-date statistics as well as useful information such as a list of constables and PCSOs for each neighbourhood and a message from the area Inspector.

For example, in Shaw and Royton inspector Collette Rose explains how there had been a sharp increase in burglaries but an operation was launched and an offender arrested, reducing the number of break-ins.

However, the information supplied does vary greatly from force to force with some giving statistics right down to specific streets while others, including Greater Manchester, supply them just for a general area — such as Oldham West.

Some forces such as West Yorkshire mark the exact location of each offence, given on a large scale ordnance survey map.

And technical problems have meant not all the information is currently available, with there still being no figures for Oldham East or Oldham Town Centre, which presumably would have high crime rates. This prevents comparisons between neighbouring areas.

As reported in the Evening Chronicle, it does show that crime was slightly down for the whole of Oldham with an average of 1,830 crimes every month last year — down from 1,899 the previous year.

The monthly average of crimes over the last three months was 177 dwelling burglaries, up from 154 over the same period the previous year; 37 robberies, up from 31; and 198 cases of violence against the person, up from 176.

But vehicle theft was 74, down from 77, theft from a vehicle was 206, down from 214 and anti-social behaviour 30, down from 35. The maps are part of government attempts to allow residents more influence over police priorities.

Police Minister Vernon Coker said he hoped they would “empower” communities and help make the police more accountable. He said: “As a result, crime mapping can help ensure people’s voices are heard.

But among the critics are the Police Federation of England and Wales, whose vice chairman Simon Reed said the maps could actually help criminals and make crime hotspots worse, while further exacerbating the public’s fear of crime.

And chartered surveyors say the maps could become required reading for house buyers and could knock thousands off the value of homes on streets with higher crime rates.