Hi, I'm Mrs. Zulchin and I'm going to be taking you through this citizenship lesson.

I'll be explaining all of the information that you need and I'll be pausing and telling you when you need complete tasks.

Hope you enjoyed the lesson.

This lesson is called Should We Trust Crime Figures? And it's taken from the Unit, what can we do to reduce crime? The outcome for this lesson is by the end you'll be able to describe when crime figures come from and also evaluate their trustworthiness.

The keywords that we're going to look at this lesson are National Crime Recording Standards, NCRS.

These are the principles that ensure police record all reported crimes accurately and consistently across the UK.

Crime surveys, which is an interview that asks people about their experiences of crime, including those not reported to the police.

Media, which is television, radio, social media, and printed media, which can reach a large number of people.

This is our lesson outline.

We're going to look at how crimes are reported and recorded, where the crime figures match reality and how does the media impact perception of crime.

And we're going to start by looking at how are crime reported and recorded.

Reporting and recording a crime are two different things, but they are also interconnected.

Reporting a crime is when a citizen informs the police about a crime and recording a crime happens when the police formally log the details of the crime into the official records.

So Aisha is telling us that, My brother witnessed someone vandalising a shop window, so reported it to the police, the police caught the person and it was recorded as a crime." Crimes can be reported in many different ways and the justice system relies on citizens reporting crime.

So having a range of ways to do this is really important.

A crime can be reported by phoning 999 for an emergency or 101 for a non-emergency using online reporting forms, going to a police station, using a community organisation like Stop Hate UK or victim support and using an anonymous service such as Crime Stoppers.

And also different people may wish to report crimes in different ways too.

So Sofia is asking, "Aisha, how might you report a crime?" And she's saying, "I prefer to talk to people face to face.

So I would report a crime by going to a police station and talking to a police officer." So for Aisha, having that human contact might be something she needs when reporting a crime to make her feel a little bit more confident.

And she's asking Alex, and Alex is saying, "Even though I know I should report a crime, I would feel nervous, so I would want to report it anonymously." And that's also okay for Alex.

He might find it really scary and a bit daunting to actually speak to somebody.

So he would want to do it in a way that was private and that's fine as well.

That's why we have different ways in which to report crime.

And different crimes might also need to be reported in different ways depending on the level of emergency.

So let's have a look at that as an example.

So Sofia is saying, "My Auntie once saw someone threaten a shopkeeper with a knife, she dialled 999 from her mobile so that the police could get to the location as soon as possible and minimise any violence." So in this example here, a crime was happening at that current time that could have put people really, really at danger and therefore she reported it by using 999, which was a really sensible thing to do.

Alex giving an example where he's saying that, "My dad and I came out of the shops one day and noticed someone had bumped our car and not bothered to stop.

He reported it online as it wasn't an emergency." So a crime has still happened there, but actually no one was in immediate danger.

So therefore reporting online was a sensible option for Alex's dad.

So both different ways of reporting crime that fit the situation.

Sofia's asking, "Does it really matter whether people report crimes or not?" If you like pause and have, think about this yourself.

Reporting crime is a responsibility of citizenship.

We live by the rule of law and this means we have a duty to uphold the law and we expect others to do the same.

And we live in a democratic society and have civic responsibilities that come with that.

Reporting a crime helps uphold the unspoken agreement between parliament and the people.

Parliament make laws and therefore we are expected to report when these laws are broken.

Let's have a quick check.

So true or false? There is only one set way in which a citizen can report a crime.

So in a second, pause a video, think if it's true or false and why? It's false.

Why? There are a range of different ways a crime could be reported such as over the phone, online, through an organisation, or directly via a police officer.

Reporting crime is a civic duty, so it needs to be a process that has lots of options.

Let's have a check, have a read of the statement below and think what are the missing words? Pause while you have a go at this check.

Reporting a crime helps uphold the unspoken agreement between parliament and the people.

Parliament make laws and we report when these are broken.

There are clear stages a police officer must work through when deciding whether to record a crime.

So when a crime is reported, this is logged on the police system, information is then gathered and the police officer or call handler will assess whether the instant reported might be a crime.

And then a decision is made about whether to record as a crime or a non-crime incident.

But it is always recorded.

Different police forces have different systems. If it's decided no crime has taken place, it is still recorded as a non-crime incident.

So Aisha's saying, "If police forces have different systems, how can they be sure that they are all recording crimes in the same way?" Because this is really, really important.

We need to ensure that it's consistent and fair.

And that's why we have the National Crime Recording Standards, the NCRS.

This was introduced in 2002 to make sure that all police forces across the UK were recording crimes in exactly the same way.

The NCRS aims to ensure national crime figures are accurate and consistent and this ensures that the citizens and the government are informed about crime trends.

Let's have a check.

What is the main aim of the National Crime Recording Standards, the NCRS? Is it A? To ensure the court systems are following official protocol.

Is it B? To ensure the public are reporting crimes correctly.

Or is it C? To ensure national crime figures are accurate and consistent? It's C to ensure national crime figures are accurate and consistent.

The NCRS is based on very clear principles, it's victim focused.

This means if a citizen believes they've been a victim of a crime, the police must record it unless they have really strong evidence otherwise.

There's a balance of probability.

So police must consider likelihood when deciding whether a crime has happened such as being over 50% sure.

So thinking how probable is it? How likely is it that crime has happened? There needs to be timely recording.

So it needs to be reported and then recorded quickly.

So to make sure nothing is missed or delayed, crime should be recorded within 24 hours of the report being initially made.

And there's no evidence needed.

Full evidence is not needed before recording a crime.

The report itself is enough.

Let's have a check.

True or false? The police need full evidence before recording a crime.

Pause and have a think if it's true or false and also why? It's false.

Why? Because full evidence is not needed before recording a crime.

The report is enough.

This is one of the key principles of the NCRS.

So for task A, I want you to explain the relationship between reporting and recording a crime.

Aisha is reminding you to think about how one supports the other and Sofia is reminding you to consider how crime recording is victim focused.

While Alex is reminding you to consider how reporting a crime can ensure that crime is recorded.

Pause while you complete this task.

Your answer may have included the following.

When a crime is reported, it must also be recorded as either a crime or a non-crime incident.

The recording of crime relies on the reporting of crime.

The recording of crime is victim focused.

This means for a person believes they've been a victim or a witness of a crime, it must be believed and recorded.

Crimes can't be recorded if they aren't reported.

And accurate reporting leads to proper recording, which helps track crime trends and allocate police resources.

We're now going to have a look at do crime figures match reality? Alex is saying, "If all crimes that are reported are recorded, then crime figures must be accurate, right?" So have a pause and think about what you make of this statement.

Reporting does lead to recording, but we must remember that not all crimes are reported to begin with and there are lots of reasons why citizens might not report a crime.

For example, fear of retaliation.

Someone might be scared to report a crime in case it comes back on them.

They might have shame or stigma of being a victim of a crime.

They might not report a crime because they don't want people to know that they've been a victim of a crime.

They might be wanting to protect the perpetrator.

So if someone they know has committed a crime against them like a family member or a friend, they might not want to report it because they might want to protect that person and they might not feel it's worth it if the crime is thought of as minor.

So for example, if they were to see someone in a shop steal a packet of crisps, they might not bother to report it because they might not think it it's too important.

And they might have had previous bad experience with or an existing poor view of the justice system and therefore they don't report.

So true or false? Crime is always reported.

Pause a video and think, is that true or false and why? It's false.

Why? Because citizens might not report crime for a variety of reasons, including fear, shame, stigma, or previous bad experiences with the justice system.

Let's have a look at this in more detail.

So let's imagine Mr. Jones witnesses a drug deal from his bedroom window.

The drug dealer looks up and he sees Mr. Jones watching them.

Mr. Jones closes the curtains and does not report the crime.

If you like, pause the video and think why might he not have reported that crime? There are lots of reasons Mr. Jones might not report the crime.

He could be scared that the drug dealer will seek revenge on him for reporting the crime.

Remember the drug dealers looked up and seen him, or he might not report because he doesn't think the crime is impacting him directly, so therefore he ignores it.

Let's have a look at another example.

So Miss Hampton is homeless and a member of the public kicks her while she's laid down reading.

Miss Hampton is often woken up by the police and told to move on.

So Miss Hampton's a rough sleeper who often is told to move onto somewhere else by the police and she's occasionally had arguments with them when this has happened.

The police are patrolling the area, but Miss Hampton chooses not to tell them what has happened.

If you like, pause a video and think, why might Miss Hampton have chosen not to tell the police and report the crime? Miss Hampton might not report the crime because she's had previous bad experiences with the police.

So therefore she might feel that she won't be believed or that the police will simply not care about her situation.

So this is an example of a crime that could go unreported.

Crime figures can also be unreliable due to how they are recorded in the first place.

Police officers will make a professional judgement about how to classify a crime and different officers might make different decisions about how a crime is reported 'cause it can depend on how it's perceived and viewed by the police officer.

So differences on what is recorded can depend on things like subjective judgement.

So this is where police officers will view things based on their experience, but also complexity of the crime.

If an instant involves multiple crimes, which is often the case, they may not all get recorded.

And a crime can be viewed differently by different officers.

For example, let's have a look at a scenario here.

So Mr. Lee and Miss Saur purposefully break a shop window.

A member of the public reports a crime and an officer arrests them at the scene.

Officer A might arrest them for criminal damage as they have purposefully damaged public property, and that could absolutely be correct.

However, Officer B might arrest them for attempted burglary as it was a shop that they may have been trying to gain access to.

So here is where you've got two officers that have both come to the same crime, but they've perceived it in slightly different ways, meaning it'll be reported in different ways.

Let's have a look at another example.

Miss Green has stolen a handbag from a table outside a cafe.

The victim noticed this happening, but when they confronted Miss Green, she gestured with her fists, so the victim sat back down.

So Officer A might arrest Miss Green with theft.

They might view the crime as non-threatening as a bag was taken off the table and Miss Green was not hurt.

Whereas Officer B might arrest Miss Green with robbery because they might perceive that threat has been taken place because they made a threatening gesture to the victim, meaning that it would be recorded as robbery, not theft.

So again, different police officers might view a the same crime in slightly different ways.

So let's have a check, have a read of the statement and think what are the missing words? This is a bit of a tricky one.

So Sofia's given you a clue.

One of the words begins with a C and the other with a J.

Pause while you have a go at this check.

So police officers might record the same crime in different ways because of subjective judgement and complexity of the crime.

Crime surveys are also used to gather crime statistics.

The surveys are face-to-face or online interviews that are carried out by trained professionals.

The interviewer asks about the participants' experiences of crime over a set period.

To make sure the sample represents our diverse society, tens of thousands of people are interviewed from across a wide range of areas in the UK and this ensures that there is a good mix of different ages, races, religions, and economic status within the sample.

Trying to get a really representative sample within this crime survey.

Aisha's asking, "But why do we need to complete crime surveys when we already have police data?" If you like, pause and have a think about this statement.

As we've already learned, victims and witnesses of crime do not always report instance to the police, and the police can only record what has been reported.

Whereas crime surveys just ask people about their experiences of crime.

They're victim centred and aim to capture information about unreported as well as reported crime.

There can be discrepancies between data from crime surveys and data from police recorded crime.

So for example, crime surveys tend to show up more incidents of less visible crime.

Crime types that citizens might not bother to report to the police but would mention at an interview.

So such as harassment or environmental crimes like seeing someone fly tipping, which is when they are illegally disposing of waste.

So they might have seen these crimes happen, but at the time for whatever reason didn't report them.

But when being asked about them in a crime survey, they might talk about them and mention them.

The same with the example I mentioned before about witnessing someone stealing a packet of crisps from the shop.

People might not report that as a crime, but if they were asked about this in a crime survey, they might talk about it.

So crime surveys will show up different things than police data.

Crime types that fall under domestic abuse also tend to show up higher in surveys.

And this could be due to victims being more likely to disclose a crime anonymously via a survey rather than face-to-face with the police.

So Aisha saying, "Well, crime surveys sound way better.

Why don't we just use them?" So why don't you pause and have a think about that statement.

There are lots of reasons why we don't just use crime surveys.

For example, although it's a representative sample, we're not asking everyone with a crime survey.

So not everybody gets to contribute.

They really heavily rely on people's memories and then remembering things accurately.

It doesn't include all crime types, for example, murder isn't included within crime surveys and also not all groups are included in the sample, such as people who are homeless and rough sleeping or prisoners.

Police crime data and crime survey data both provide important information.

They both have positive points and provide crime figures that can be used to inform citizens and decision makers about crime trends.

But they both also have negative points.

Neither is perfect.

So using both together can provide a more accurate and realistic picture of crime figures.

Let's have a check, which statement about crime surveys is true A, B, or C? It's B, crime surveys use a sample of participants from across the UK chosen at random.

Remember, we're trying to get a representative sample within crime surveys.

For task B, I want you to create a summary table that evaluates both sources of data.

Your table could be organised like this, so you might have police crime data talking about the positives, and then police crime data, the negatives, then underneath crime survey data, the positives, and then crime survey data, the negatives, this task will really, really support your critical thinking skills.

Pause while you complete this task.

So your response might have included some of these things.

For police crime data positives that all reported crime must be recorded as a crime or non-crime incident, that it includes all crime types and that police must follow the NCRS to ensure consistency.

However, for negatives, you might have talked about how not all crime is reported and that some crimes are under-reported.

And also that the complexity of the crime and subjective judgement might mean crimes are recorded differently.

For crime survey data, the positives you might have talked about how it includes reported and unreported crime and that some citizens may be more honest as it's anonymous.

For crime survey data, the negatives you might have talked about how it doesn't include all crime types.

It uses a sample, not the full population, and it relies on citizens' memory, which can be unreliable.

We're now going to move on to looking at how does the media impact perception of crime? So citizens don't just receive information about possible crime trends through police data and crime surveys.

They look to the media too, and what citizens observe in the media can really influence what they view as common or less common types of crime.

It can also influence fear towards certain crimes, areas or even groups of people.

It can influence their opinions linked to potential crime waves they believe are happening as well as stereotypes relating to people who commit crimes.

So let's have a look at this through an example.

Mrs. Brown has been reading about youth knife crime.

She's also started searching for stories on her social media.

So she's read about youth knife crime and that's piqued her interest and she started searching for that on social media.

She starts to notice groups of young people near her home and she's scared that they might be carrying knives.

Mrs. Brown phones a police as she's sure that they are going to commit a weapon related crime.

With this example, Mrs. Brown's major consumption has fueled a fear of knife crime.

And this has led to her reporting a crime that doesn't exist.

What she's seen and read about in the media has altered her perception of crime.

Let's look at another example.

Mr. Tomlinson has read a newspaper article that accuses asylum seekers of being a source of violent crime in the UK.

He only buys one particular newspaper and it always prints negative stories about asylum seekers.

Mr. Tomlinson believes everything he reads in his newspaper and he doesn't critically explore alternative sources.

So he's not reading any newspapers that might print positive stories about immigration.

With this example, Mr. Tomlinson now has a negative stereotype towards asylum seekers, and this means he's more likely to view them as criminals.

And this could impact future crime reporting.

As well as perception, the media can also increase the number of crimes that are reported.

So high profile crime cases that are covered by the media might encourage other victims to come forward and report too.

And we saw this with the #MeToo campaign regarding sexual assault.

That hashtag went viral and it encouraged lots of victims of crime to come forward and report historical crime.

Media awareness campaigns can really educate citizens about different types of crime, and this education can lead to an increase in reporting.

Let's have a check.

True or false? The media only ever has a negative impact on crime reporting.

Pause and think, is this true or false and why? It's false.

Why? It can also have a positive impact by raising awareness and encouraging more victims of a particular crime to come forward.

The media can also lead to a decrease in the number of crimes being reported.

So negative media reports about the police might impact public confidence, meaning less people are likely to report crime in the first place.

And if the media under report a particular crime or are viewed as being dismissive towards particular crime types, this could limit the number of victims who come forward and report that crime type.

So let's have a look at some examples.

Mr. Hall has watched a news report about bogus builders who have been scamming customers.

He realises that recent building work he had completed echoes the news report.

So he suddenly thinks, wait a minute, the work that I've had done on my house, that might have been a bit dodgy actually, that's what I learned about on the news report.

So he goes to his local police station and reports his suspicions.

So in this example, Mr. Hall realised that he'd been a victim of crime by learning about a particular crime type on the television.

And this actually led to him reporting the crime, whereas he might not have before 'cause he might not have fully known.

Let's have a look at another example.

So Miss Castle's boyfriend is threatening to share nude photos of her if she breaks up with him.

She follows a celebrity on social media who talks about how she was dismissed by police when she reported a similar crime.

So a celebrity that she might look up to here that she follows has said that when she reported someone threatening to release photos of her, she was dismissed by the police.

She also notices how some parts of the media might paint women who like to look nice in an unfavourable light.

So in this example here, Miss Castle, they may be more unlikely to report her boyfriend to the police due to how she thinks she will be treated.

And these views have been really shaped by what she has seen in the media.

Let's have a check, have a read of the following sentence and think what word might come next? So negative media reports about the police might impact public confidence, meaning less people are likely to report a crime.

For Task C, you've been asked to contact a national newspaper to encourage them to consider the impact their stories could have on public perception when reporting about crime.

Really think about what key messages would you want to share with them? And Alex is reminding you to consider what you could encourage them to do to educate people about crime, but also what you could remind them not to do.

So pause while you complete this task.

So your key ideas might have included the following.

You might have talked about ways they could encourage people to come forward by reporting crime sensitively.

You could have included ways they could educate the public by running awareness campaigns and educating people about crime types, ways they can avoid provoking fear or stereotyping by reporting crimes proportionately.

And also ways they can show solidarity with victims of crime so that victims of crime are hopefully more likely to come forward and report crime.

So in summary for should we trust crime figures, crimes are reported by victims or witnesses.

Once a crime is reported, it must be recorded as a crime or non-crime instant by either the or a call handler.

Crime figures come from both police recorded crime and crime surveys.

Both have positives and negatives and should be used together to obtain a more accurate picture of crime levels in the UK.

Crime figures don't always represent reality as not all crimes are reported.

And the media can also impact how citizens perceive crime and this can have both positive and negative impacts on crime reporting.

Thank you for taking part in this lesson and working really hard.

Hopefully we'll see you back for some more citizenship lessons in the future.