Lies, damn lies and statistics

1.52.24pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 16th Mar 2007

Responding to reports in the local media over the last few weeks on the recorded crime level in Northgate being in the top 10 worst wards in Sussex, Northgate Councillor Gordon Seekings said "It is not actually true, the Northgate residential area itself is a relatively crime free area and it's parts of the ward such as the Town Centre, the Industrial Estate and the Police Station itself that distort the figures. I am particularly sorry that the Crawley News this week specifically chose not to use the comment I made that 'one of the biggest reasons for the high Northgate figure was in fact because the Police Station is in Northgate'."

"Basically, if someone is brought to the Police Station and taken to the cells when they empty their pockets if any drugs/weapons etc. etc. are found then an offence for that will be recorded. As the Police Station is in Northgate it then goes against Northgate's total crime figures. Subsequent crimes which become apparent later, but cannot be geographically located, may also get logged at the Police Station."

Northgate Councillor Gordon Seekings "It would be far better if they treated the crime figures for the Police Station separate from the other Northgate figures"

Continuing Gordon said "It would be far better if they treated the crime figures for the Police Station separate from the other Northgate figures in the same way that crimes at Gatwick Airport are not recorded against the ward they are in - Langley Green."

Gordon has also highlighted other anomalies in the statistics. "If a drunk comes out of one of the Town Centre bars and verbally abuses three people then that would be logged as three crimes. However if it was a much more serious affair, such as half a dozen people ending up in a drunken massed fight, then it is more than likely to be logged as one crime with several perpetrators."

"There are also other distortions in the figures. For example, if a car is stolen in Horley, driven to Crawley and set light to in Crawley, then it's a stolen car crime in Surrey and an arson offence in Sussex - two offences. If however the car was stolen in one part of Crawley and set light to elsewhere in the town then that would only be one offence recorded by Sussex Police."

Gordon concluded by saying that he thought there was a greater willingness for the public to report crime but the knock on effect was to show a disproportionate increase in crime levels. "Northgate is one of the safest place I know and long may it remain so. It is the fear of crime rather than crimes themselves that cause most consternation for residents - and misleading reports in the media do nothing to help that."