More fun with crime stats.
 

Wow. This is very interesting. How do you go from 864 to 3821 within less than 10 years? In England? Aside from the fact that they're maniacs, this is an interesting fact.

Originally posted by Pekka
Wow. This is very interesting. How do you go from 864 to 3821 within less than 10 years? In England? Aside from the fact that they're maniacs, this is an interesting fact. Easy-peasy.

They're counting items such as CS spray, pepper spray and tasers as guns- and they were just about unknown on UK streets in 1998.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb0207.pdf

Of course, the Sunday Times doesn't bother pointing that out. Nor do they point out that the same stats they refer to actually reflect a fall in fatalities due to gun crime.

Fun with crime statistics, kids. They're always good for a laugh.

Statistics in general. I'm not a fan of statistics.
I can just imagine, "20% of murderers don't wear socks.
We can drop crime by 20% by simply making socks mandatory."

Here's another way to have fun with crime stats...have a hate crime victim category for hispanics, but no hispanic offender category.http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/idea.gif

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/forms/hatecrime.pdf

Originally posted by Caligastia
Here's another way to have fun with crime stats...have a hate crime victim category for hispanics, but no hispanic offender category.http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/idea.gif

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/forms/hatecrime.pdf There is a reason for that- the methodology is totally different and dependent on far more variables and skewing factors.

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp


There is a reason for that- the methodology is totally different and dependent on far more variables and skewing factors. So? Please explain.

Isn't that like saying that banning sex leads to increased rates of rapes and HIV?

No wait. That's true. POPE!!!!! I wanna talk to you!

No wait. I don't want to talk to the pope. I'd like to fart the general direction he's at http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/lol.gif POPE!! you suuuck... pope suuucks.... pope, bad... pope loser... suucks..

Crime isn't rising,therefore it's not a problem Laz?

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I bet he even admires Ghandi, Pekka. WhoTF is Ghandi?

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Statistics in general. I'm not a fan of statistics.
I can just imagine, "20% of murderers don't wear socks.
We can drop crime by 20% by simply making socks mandatory." http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...s/rolleyes.gif you dont like statistics because of policy decisions made based on statistics. you dont like logical fallacies instead of statistics.

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp
That's a peculiar conclusion to draw, Solly. It seemed the general gist of your posts.

Crime is a social problem whether the rates of it occurring are rising, falling, or static. However, making use of BCS stats out of context and without explanation in order to support an argument that crime rates are increasing is pretty shabby, wouldn't you agree?

or ID cards, maybe?

Without making judgement on the issue itself: Crime statistics are very unpredictable, everyone knows that. You'll never be sure if the rise or fall of the figures are a result of a drop or increase of criminal offences one hand or a rise or fall in the percentage of actual crimes reported to the police on the other.

If a gun goes of in the forest and there's no one there hear it, is it really making a sound?

Top cop smacketh Cameron down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/arti...rc=rss&feed=11

Is that the typical way the police explain stats? Look at similar cities in the US?

No- they typically refer back to previous years within the UK (which he's done).

Comparing UK stats to the US are usually only done if they're looking for a really easy way of pointing out that things could be much worse.

The police officers aren't doling out crime stats.

The stats in question are the British Crime Survey statistics, which are not produced by the police. Do you feel police officers should be banned from commenting on them, or how they reflect their own professional experiences?