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Police miscount serious violence Police miscount serious violence
(about 3 hours later)
Some police forces have been undercounting some of the most serious violent crimes in England and Wales, the Home Office has admitted. A number of police forces in England and Wales have been undercounting some of the most serious violent crimes, the government has admitted.
Some crimes that should have been classed as "grievous bodily harm with intent" were recorded as lesser crimes. It means figures for serious violent crimes rose by 22% compared to last year - rather than showing a fall as previous figures appeared to indicate.
As a result, overall crime and overall violent crime remain down on last year - but the official total of most serious violent crime is up by 22%. The mistake happened when some crimes classed as "grievous bodily harm with intent" were recorded as less serious.
Policing Minister Vernon Coaker said crime figures could still be trusted. Figures say overall crime is down, and ministers say these can be trusted.
The statistics cover the period from April to June this year, and show crime recorded by the 43 police forces in England and Wales. The government says it does not know how long the undercounting has been going on - leading to concerns that figures on violent crime may have been wrong for up to a decade.
The results of the British Crime Survey, a study of experiences rather than police records, has also been published. A former Home Office crime consultant told the BBC the government had been "hiding behind" its changes in the crime counting rules.
The overall number of crimes recorded by police fell 6%. Professor Marian Fitzgerald, a criminologist at the University of Kent's Crime and Justice Centre, said the long-term trend of increasing violent crime was now "catching up" with the government.
Keith Bristow, from the Association of Chief Police Officers, said "most, if not all" police forces in England and Wales, plus British Transport Police, were to some extent misinterpreting the guidance on recording grievous bodily harm with intent. We are clear that we are concerned about serious violence, that's why we went back to make sure we were counting it properly in the first place, Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7686468.stm">How police missed the violence Let's be clear, this isn't crime that wasn't being recorded or wasn't being reported or wasn't being dealt with Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary
As a result such incidents were not put in the "most serious" violent crime category. The Conservatives said the new figures "fatally undermined" government claims that violent crime was in decline.
When the Home Office clarified the guidance this year, 17 forces, according to the Home Office statisticians, showed "above average" increases in GBH with intent, suggesting that they were the ones who were misinterpreting the guidance the most. Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "They betray a government that is completely out of touch with what is going on, on our streets and in our communities."
Of these 17 forces, 13 were able to provide further information on their figures to the Home Office. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne called for the Office of National Statistics - rather than the Home Office - to be given direct responsibility for crime figures.
Ministers concede they do not know how long the problem has been going on and the Home Office will not say which police forces have been misclassifying the incidents of grievous bodily harm. But police minister Vernon Coaker said the "clarification" did not mean the government had lost faith in its crime statistics.
The types of offence that have been miscounted would include serious alcohol-fueled violence where the attacker had intended serious harm - but the victim escaped significant injury. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith insisted all the crimes in question had been investigated by the police.
She told the BBC: "What the statisticians are clear about is that the increases in the most serious forms of violence have actually in terms of numbers been more than counteracted by the decreases in less serious violence."
FORCES WHICH RECOUNTED SERIOUS VIOLENCE HumbersideDerbyshireNorth WalesCambridgeshireThames Valley 18 forces overall reported higher levels of serious violence13 including above reported backMetropolitan Police said it could not meet deadline An 'almighty embarrassment'
The error was discovered when at least 18 out of 43 forces in England and Wales were asked to re-examine their figures, following the realisation that some serious assaults were being recorded in a lower category of offence.
Crimes of "grievous bodily harm with intent" committed between April and June this year were being mistakenly recorded as lesser crimes.
When the figures were recounted using the correct classification, the official total showed serious violent crime had risen 22%.
Previous measures under the old rules had shown decreases every quarter of up to 15%.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on undercounting crimeHome Secretary Jacqui Smith on undercounting crime
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the BBC all of the crimes in question had been investigated by the police. Two of the most serious categories of knife crime showed big increases.
She said: "Let's be clear, this isn't crime that wasn't being recorded or wasn't being reported or wasn't being dealt with. It just wasn't being recorded in the category 'most serious violence'. Attempted murders in England and Wales involving a knife between April and June this year were 28% up on last year.
"So all of this crime has been dealt with. And assaults causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent rose by 29%.
"It's just that I wanted to focus particularly on most serious violence and therefore we needed to be sure that everybody in terms of categorising it was categorising it in the same way, so that we'd be able to track whether or not all the things that we're putting into place are making a difference." However, the revised figures still show that overall crime and overall violent crime remain down on last year - a finding backed by the results of the British Crime Survey (BCS), also released on Thursday.
Ms Smith also said that "one interesting feature" of the statistics being published was that gun crime was also down by 22%. The BCS, which is a study of the experiences of victims, rather than police records, shows an overall decrease of 6% in the number of crimes compared to last year.
'Uncomfortable reading' Alcohol-fueled violence
She added that overall violent crime was down, and "what the statisticians are clear about is that the increases in the most serious forms of violence have actually in terms of numbers been more than counteracted by the decreases in less serious violence." The Home Office has refused to name the police forces asked to resubmit their crime figures.
She added: "We are clear that we are concerned about serious violence, that's why we went back to make sure we were counting it properly in the first place, and more importantly that's why we have taken the action we have done in terms of tackling knives." At least one of the 13 forces which complied - North Wales Police - said its crime figures were subsequently "audited, verified and found to be correct."
Mr Bristow, who is also Chief Constable of Warwickshire, said the impact of changes made to the way in which some crime is recorded will make "uncomfortable reading". However experts say that other forces who did not submit figures, may have been making the same mistake.
He said: "Apparent increases in some categories of violent crime are strongly influenced by these counting amendments which were introduced by the Home Office in April 2008. CRIMES AFFECTED BY MISCOUNT Grievous Bodily Harm "with intent":Where attacker wants to inflict serious injuryIncidents include serious pub-fights, use of broken bottles etcProblem arose where victim escaped with minor or no injuriesSome officers previously classed these attacks as lesser assaults, but should have classed them as seriousMajority of forces correctly classified these incidents, but a minority did not Among them is the Metropolitan Police who has now confirmed a 44% increase in offences of GBH with Intent offences between April and June this year.
"ACPO supported the amendments to the counting arrangements as these changes will improve our understanding of neighbourhoods affected by crime. Keith Bristow, from the Association of Chief Police Officers, said "most, if not all" police forces in England and Wales, plus British Transport Police, were to some extent misinterpreting the guidance on recording grievous bodily harm with intent. Police figures are reflecting a long term trend increase in serious violence and the government are hiding behind changes in the counting rules to try to explain it away Professor Marian Fitzgerald class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7686468.stm">How police missed the violence
"Some categories of crime have historically suffered from under-reporting by the public, such as sexual assault and domestic abuse. The Police Service continues to actively encourage the public to report these types of offences. The government started to realise it had got its figures wrong earlier this year after Home Office clarified the guidance on crime reporting.
"While the statistics published today show that crime continues to fall year-on-year the public is rightly concerned about aspects of violent crime and disorder." Home Office statisticians discovered that 18 forces, were showing "above average" increases in GBH with intent.
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "These figures fatally undermine government spin that violent crime was getting better and betray a government that is completely out of touch with what is going on, on our streets and in our communities. That suggested that they were the ones which had been misinterpreting the guidance the most.
"Labour's target-driven approach has simply been to manipulate the statistics. Of these 18 forces, 13 were able to provide further information on their figures to the Home Office.
"They should now face up to the reality of their failure and realise that if you can't count a problem, you can't combat it. The types of offence that have been miscounted would include serious alcohol-fuelled violence where the attacker had intended serious harm - but the victim escaped significant injury.
"In any event, serious violent crime would still have increased before miscounting was revealed." Ms Smith said: "Let's be clear, this isn't crime that wasn't being recorded or wasn't being reported or wasn't being dealt with. It just wasn't being recorded in the category 'most serious violence'.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said tackling serious violent crime should be the police's "top priority" and called for the Office of National Statistics to be given direct responsibility for crime figures. "So all of this crime has been dealt with."
He added: "The failure to tackle serious violence is an alarming blemish on the otherwise encouraging fall in overall crime." CRIMES AFFECTED BY MISCOUNT Grievous Bodily Harm "with intent":Where attacker wants to inflict serious injuryIncidents include serious pub-fights, use of broken bottles etcProblem arose where victim escaped with minor or no injuriesSome officers previously classed these attacks as lesser assaults, but should have classed them as seriousMajority of forces correctly classified these incidents, but a minority did not
But Professor Fitzgerald said that the government was aware of the long trend of serious violent crime which had been rising over "several decades"
She told the BBC: "It started to go up really quite steeply from the early 1990s.
"The problem this government has got is that when it came to power it dismissed out of hand the trends in police recorded crime which were a fairly good measure of serious violence
"It preferred instead to rely on the British Crime Survey which is very poor at picking up violence."
For good measure it has actually interfered with the police figures by keeping changing the ways in which they have been recorded.
"What's catching up with them now is the fact the police figures are reflecting that long term trend increase in serious violence. The government are hiding behind changes in the counting rules to try to explain it away."
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