Plans for a New Crime Statistics System for England and Wales.

The paper discusses the work taking place to develop a new national crime database that holds information on individual crimes and their geographic location. The new system will open up opportunities for more detailed analysis of the circumstances around crimes, as well as geographic analysis that was not previously possible. The issues to be considered in presenting and analysing data at a local level are discussed. The steps that have already been taken to improve the quality of crimes recorded by the police are described, along with plans to respond to two recent reviews of crime statistics. The response includes more transparent categorization and naming of offences as well as plans for web-based dissemination of crime data at both the national and local levels.Crime Prevention and Community Safety (2008) 10, 150–157. doi:10.1057/cpcs.2008.10 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]