A guide on what to look for in SA's troubling crime statistics
South Africa releases crime statistics once a year and politicians interpret them according to their particular agendas
Since the 19th century, a growing number of countries have attempted to systematically collect and analyse information on all the crimes known to their police.At least 139 have made some such data public at least once in the last decade, but there is major variation in quality and in the frequency and ease of public access.For example, the United Kingdom releases audited figures for the previous 12 months quarterly, but more detailed monthly data for each geographic police force are also made available.Crime is not at all evenly distributed in any country or city, so smaller scale data is essential. The US releases a semiannual preliminary report and an annual report. Many US cities publish quarterly, monthly, or even weekly crime statistics.Developing countries face considerable challenges in their capacity to produce crime (or other) statistics of reasonable completeness.In Africa, crime or criminal justice statistics remain scarce, fairly ad hoc, and often of poor quality. And po...
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