Commissioner joins calls for Home Office review on crime recording

Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, would welcome a review of the current system, and at his most recent meeting with Cheshire’s Chief Constable, Mark Roberts, and Assistant Chief Constables, he made his views clear that a change is needed.

A recent article in The Times newspaper reported that Chief Constables have called for a Home Office review into crime recording.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, would welcome a review of the current system, and at his most recent public scrutiny meeting with Cheshire’s Chief Constable, Mark Roberts, and Assistant Chief Constables, he made his views clear that a change is needed, raising similar concerns to those of Chief Constable Nick Adderley of Northamptonshire Constabulary.

According to The Times article, Shaun Sawyer, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for performance management, said that Chief Constables would write to the Home Office to request a review of crime recording.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, said: “I agree that crime recording needs to be looked at by the Home Office. I am pleased that this issue has been raised on a national level because it affects forces across the country and merits a public discussion.

“As part of my Police and Crime Plan I want to improve public confidence in policing, and that includes the accurate reporting of crime. The last thing we want to happen here in Cheshire is for the public to get the wrong impression about crime levels and for their confidence in the police to suffer as a result.”

Under the current system, one crime can have numerous sub-crimes attributed to it. The example given by John Dwyer at a recent public scrutiny meeting related to an incident in Crewe involving seven people, which caused a public disturbance. In the first instance it was recorded as an affray, however under that recording, each offender would have an assault tag against the other six attached to the record, meaning there were 42 assaults and one affray, all from the same incident.

John Dwyer added: “The example I put to the Chief Constable demonstrates the current flaws in the system. Crime should recorded in the most efficient way possible and dealt with accordingly. This prevents inflation of figures for certain types of crime that do not accurately reflect what has happened. I hope the Home Office will conduct a review and find a suitable solution that benefits everyone and improves public confidence in the police.”

Pictured - Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire John Dwyer.