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Conducting the audit
3.13 It is important to gather information about community safety problems and their causes across the whole local authority area. Problems can then be prioritised and sensible efforts made to tackle them. The information should be detailed enough to identify local concerns:
3.14 The audit will fall into three main stages:
Stage One: community safety profile
3.15 The profile will vary between areas according to the type of information that is gathered locally. Ideally, it should contain information on each of the subjects outlined in Box 3.3.
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Box 3.3 Scope of a community safety audit |
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Crimes |
Number and types of crimes
and offences |
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Accidents |
Numbers and types of road
and fire accidents |
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Offenders |
Age, gender, ethnicity, area
where they live |
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Victims |
Age, gender, ethnicity, area
where they live |
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Anti-social behaviour, disorder and other forms of nuisance behaviour |
Number, types and rates
of incidents |
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Costs of community safety problems |
Costs and consequences of crime, accidents and disorderly behaviour eg repair costs, security costs, loss of business, etc |
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Contextual information and information on risk factors |
Social, economic and environmental factors associated with community safety problems |
3.16 A wide range of potential information sources can be drawn on in preparing the community safety profile [see Box 3.4]. Other sources of information may help in setting objectives, eg reports or surveys produced by social inclusion partnerships, priority partnership area boards, drug action teams, etc.
3.17 Partnerships should also use national reports that allow local information to be placed in a regional or national context, eg the Scottish Crime Survey and Criminal Justice Statistical Bulletins (produced by the Scottish Executive), Scottish Business Crime Survey (available soon from the Scottish Executive), Scottish Drugs Misuse Database and annual report on key drugs statistics (Scottish Executive Department of Health), and United Kingdom Fire Statistics Bulletins and Fire Statistics Monitors (produced by the Scottish Executive Department of Justice).
3.18 It will also be useful to keep a record of sources of data which are not available, or which are incomplete or of poor quality, and to consider establishing systems to collect such information and improve it for future audits. Lack of adequate information can be a major hindrance to effectively auditing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating community safety.
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Box 3.4 Data sources |
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WHO? |
WHAT? |
HOW IT CAN HELP |
NOTES AND ISSUES |
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Police British Transport Police |
Crime and offence data Road accident data Offender information Victim information Command and control data on non crime incidents |
Time, location, type of crimes, offences and other incidents reported to the police Known offenders and victims by age, gender, ethnicity, area where they live |
Levels of reporting vary by crime type Not all offenders are known to the police Victim information often incomplete
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Local authority housing department Scottish Homes and other housing associations |
Records of vandalism Records of neighbourhood disputes, domestic violence incidents and racial harassment incidents Crime-related or fire repair and security costs Reasons for transfer applications Housing voids
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Costs of crime, fire and malicious damage to housing associations Levels of disorder, anti-social behaviour and quality of life issues
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Does not include costs of crime to private landlords and owner-occupiers Incident logging systems often incomplete Not all incidents will be reported
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Local authority social work department Reporters' to the Children's Hearing System |
Profile of offenders Information on vulnerable groups, eg domestic violence referrals Information on referrals to Children's Hearing System for crime or anti-social behaviour
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Known offenders and victims by age, gender, ethnicity, area where they live Information on offending patterns by age Information on factors affecting offending behaviour and risk factors
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Covers only known offenders
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Local authority environmental services |
Neighbourhood disputes (eg noise, stray dogs, etc) Levels and costs of damage to street furniture Levels of vandalism, graffiti and rubbish plus associated costs Data on the collection of needles and syringes Requests for street lighting
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Costs of crime Levels of disorder, anti-social behaviour and quality of life issues
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Recording systems often poorly developed Not all incidents reported to local authority
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Local authority policy unit |
Population statistics/Census data Reports on social, economic and environmental conditions
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Contextual information
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May be problems with co-terminosity of boundaries
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Local authority accident investigation unit Local authority roads and technical (infrastructure) services
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Location and nature of road traffic accidents Age and gender of casualties Traffic calming measures Road usage
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Accident 'hot spots' comparing number of accidents to road usage figures Information on groups who are most at risk
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Should complement police data
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Health Board |
Casualty records of assault (particularly drink-related and domestic violence) Casualty records of road accidents Information on drug taking
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Likely to cover offences not reported to the police Levels of drug misuse, age of users, types of drug, associated risk factors
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Information on cause of injuries are not always recorded in detail Information on drug users limited to users accessing services
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Drug Action Team Drug services
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Information on drug taking
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Levels of drug misuse, age of users, types of drug, associated risk factors
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Many drug users, particularly social users, will not be known by the authorities
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Fire Services
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Incidents of fire-raising, hoax calls and suspicious fires
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Time, location, type of incidents reported
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Some fires go unreported Little data on offenders
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Voluntary and other support services Victim Support Racial equality council Gay and lesbian support groups Mediation schemes |
Nature and extent of harassment Nature and extent of domestic violence Profile of victims
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Age, gender, ethnicity, type of offence suffered by victims of crime and disorder
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Not all victims report incidents to authorities Information may be difficult to analyse
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Box 3.5 Police recorded crime and offence data |
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Recorded crime and offence data should be collected in such a way that allows comparison with national figures produced by the Scottish Executive. For statistical purposes, criminal acts in Scotland are divided into 'crimes' (generally more serious criminal acts) and 'offences' (generally less serious acts). The Scottish Executive collects and reports on around 350 different types of crimes and offences, divided into seven groups: |
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Crimes of violence |
Serious assault, handling weapons, robbery, threats and extortion and other violence |
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Crimes of indecency |
Sexual assault, lewd and libidinous practice and other indecency |
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Crimes of dishonesty |
Housebreaking, theft by opening lockfast places, theft of motor vehicle, shoplifting, other theft, fraud, other dishonesty |
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Fire-raising, vandalism, etc |
Fire-raising, vandalism, malicious damage and reckless conduct |
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Other crimes |
Crimes against the state, crimes against public order, crimes against public justice, drugs, other |
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Miscellaneous offences |
Disorderly conduct, drunkenness, public health and environmental, offences involving, animals/plants, consumer protection, other |
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Motor vehicle offences |
Dangerous and careless driving, drunk driving, speeding, unlawful use of motor vehicle, vehicle defect offences, parking offences, other |
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Collecting information on these broad categories of crimes and offences offers a good starting place for preparing a community safety profile. The profile should, however, also include information on specific types of crime which are often of both high volume and high public concern, such as housebreaking (actual and attempted, dwellings and non-dwellings), theft of motor vehicles, theft from motor vehicles, theft by shoplifting and thefts of pedal cycles. An Incomplete Picture? The 1996 Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) showed that 50% of crimes are reported to the police. Reporting rates vary according to the type of crime, eg the majority of car thefts are reported to the police but the reporting rates for assaults and vandalism are generally much lower. The likelihood of a crime being reported to the police may also vary between areas and with time. Also, not all crime reported to the police is officially recorded as a crime. Some incidents may not be recorded because of police compliance with victims' wishes not to proceed. Other incidents may be regarded as too trivial to warrant formal action: there may be insufficient evidence to suggest that a crime had been committed or the police may feel that the report is mistaken or malicious. Community safety strategies should not rely solely on police crime figures. |
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