NCJ Number
190164
Date Published
2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This note describes the range of data sources used by British local interagency partnerships in conducting mandated audits of crime and disorder in their jurisdictions, as well as the types of analyses undertaken.
Abstract
Section 5 of the British Crime and Disorder Act (enacted July 1998) placed a statutory duty on local authorities, the police, health authorities, police authorities, and probation committees to work together to address problems of crime and disorder in their jurisdictions. The act stipulated that by April 1999 partnerships had to produce and publish a strategy to reduce these problems, based on evidence drawn from an audit of crime and disorder in the locality. This analysis of the audit and strategy reports relied on those documents that were submitted to the Home Office by crime-and-disorder partnerships. The vast majority of partnerships used six or more data sources in their audit. Over one-third of the audits contained 16 or more sources of data. The average number of sources used in the audits was 14. Among the types of data used were recorded/reported crime, calls for service arrests, truancy, noise complaints, probation statistics, health services (drug treatment), fire services (arson), and domestic violence data. Just as the audits submitted to the Home Office varied in their content, so did the strategy documents. Some included detailed action plans, and others focused on overarching aims and objectives. Suggestions are offered for improving audit data collection and analysis. 7 tables, 1 figure, and 9 references