Police data are not rigorous enough to be considered official, Pali Lehohla says
The statistician-general says police crime statistics have to satisfy 10 fundamental principles of statistics before they can be declared official and released to the public
The crime statistics released regularly by the South African Police Service (SAPS) do not meet fundamental principles of official statistics‚ Statistician-General Pali Lehohla has said. He said the police crime statistics have to satisfy the 10 fundamental principles of statistics before he is able to declare them official and release them to the public. Lehohla listed some of the principles: "They must be collected with the best methods; they must comply with the quality arrangements; they have to be simultaneously [released] — they must be released to everybody at the same time. There cannot be privileged release of results; they do not meet those criteria‚" he said. Speaking in Pretoria on Tuesday‚ Lehohla said this was why his office was working with the police to arrive at the point where their statistics could be declared official and be released by his office.
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