Crime statistics set for major overhaul

CRIME statistics face a major overhaul under a new system being planned by the Central Statistics Office.

The function was removed from gardaí following ongoing concerns over the recording, analysis and presentation of crime statistics. The CSO is considering recasting Irish crime statistics along British or Australian models.

Under the proposed changes:

* Recorded crime will be reclassified by removing the current controversial categories of headline and non-headline offences.

* Statistics on all non-headline offences - not just prosecutions - will be provided for the first time, as far as technically possible.

* Victimisation surveys will be carried out every two years to supplement recorded crime statistics.

"There will be significant changes in how the statistics are presented, both on a quarterly and annual basis. It will, no doubt, look very different," said Ger Healy of the CSO.

He said "dissatisfaction had been expressed with the current state of affairs", including in the report of the Expert Group on Crime Statistics, established by Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

Following the publication of the report, Mr McDowell assigned responsibility for publication of crime statistics to the CSO. A Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics Division was set up within the office.

The unit is due to take over responsibility for publishing in 2006 and is expected to receive soon the micro-data from gardaí.

Mr Healy said the unit had taken on board the findings of both the majority and minority reports of the expert group.

The minority report said the group did not evaluate garda policies on recording crime, nor did the group come to any understanding as to the extent to which reported crime was not recorded. The report said it could not comment on the quality, reliability and accuracy of garda data, as recorded in the PULSE computer system.

"The CSO is fully cognisant of all the points raised in both the majority and minority reports and this substantial work will, to a large degree, inform the direction that the CSO takes in addressing user concerns," said Mr Healy.

He said the recording of crime would continue to be a matter for gardaí.

But he said the CSO would make its position known where recording practices impinged on the quality of statistics.

Mr Healy said definitive statements on the quality of data as recorded in the PULSE system could not be made by the CSO until it received the micro-data.

But he said the system did allow for the production of "more relevant and focused information".

Mr Healy said the intention would be to produce more extensive crime information, including a geographic breakdown by county and local authority level. The CSO also hoped to produce, for the first time, data on areas such as the tracking of offenders and re-offending rates.