ReviewPresentations on crime
Sonia Jackson
Jamaica
Definitions

Definitions from the Concise Oxford :


Criminal is “a person who has committed a
crime”
Crime is “an offence punishable by law”
Concept - Criminality

Italy
3 types
a)
Real Criminality –
the whole crime set
in a specific place &
time; wether
reported or not
b)
c)
Reported
Criminality – those
incidents that have
been reported &
recorded
Hidden Criminality
– events that occur
but not reported

Ireland
The information provided
by the police and the
criminal justice system
 Jamaica
The reports focus
on the crimes that
are reported and
taken through the
various systems.
There are concerns
about crimes that
are not reported.
The concept of
innocent until
proven guilty
applies in all cases.
Data sources

Italy
Police
 Courts System
 Penal system

Through the
Ministry of Justice
and the Ministry of
Interior to the CSO
Victimization
surveys

Ireland
Police
 Courts System
 Penal system


Jamaica
Police
 Courts System
 Penal system

To the CSO
Victimization
surveys
Victimization
Survey – 2006
Quality Assurance

Italy
CSO does quality
assurance checks
before statistics are
released.
The data system is
automated but data
gaps still exist (no
information on data
gaps)

Ireland
CSO does quality
assurance checks –
data cleaning and
number checks.
Data system are not
yet fully integrated

Jamaica
Statistics on the
various sections are
administrative
records and no
information has
been provided on
quality assurance
checks.
Data systems are
not integrated –
efforts are being
made to integrate
the system
Classification

Italy
6 broad categories:
Crime against
a)
the person;
b)
households,
moral;
c)
Property;
d)
the state, other
social & public
institutions;
e)
the economy &
public faith; and
f)
Organized crime

Ireland

Jamaica
There is a formal
3 broad categories
classification system
(a)
Offences against
with 16 groups & 3
the person
layers administered by
the CSO (since 2006) (b) Offences against
Property
(c)
Miscellaneous
Motor vehicle
accidents, particularly
those involving deaths,
are monitored as
separately.
Victimisation surveys

Victimization Surveys (VS) are used to:





Validate crime data
Test incidence and prevalence
Subjective indicators such as fear
Analyse reporting behaviour
VS have been used by both Italy & Ireland;
Jamaica did its first survey in 2006.
Special topics



Italy – violence against women
Ireland – none indicated
Jamaica – growing concerns



Link between different types of crimes – e.g. illegal
drugs and illegal import of ammunitions – gang warfare
The correlation between “deportees” with criminal
records and the increase in crime in some communities
Corruption/extortion
Dissemination
By geographic region
By categories of crime
By sex of offenders
By sex of victims
Periodicity
Italy
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Ireland
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Jamaica
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Recommendations







There needs to be a standard classification for reporting crime
statistics at the international level;
Information on crime needs to differentiate between “reporting”
and “conviction”;
Guidelines need to be developed for the collection and analysis
of crime data – these are to be developed in conjunction with the
police, the CSO, the representatives of the justice and the penal
systems and any other major stakeholder;
Data collection on the perpetrators should include information on
family history as well as some data on the community;
Targets and strategies for intervention at the national level need
to be established (similar to the MDGs and poverty reduction)
Guidelines need to be developed for the conduct and analysis of
victimization surveys – like other household; and
Country specific problems require special studies and the
methodology outlined in the paper by Italy is recommended.