Audits & Audits & Strategies Toolkit
Audits Data sources: Additional crime types and thematic areas
Audits and Strategies home > Audits and Strategies - Audits - Data sources: additional crime types and thematic areas
This part of the toolkit gives you more information about additional crime types and thematic areas to help you gather data for your audit
Anti-social behaviour (ASB)
Partnerships are now required to include ASB in their overall strategy, therefore you will have to include an audit of the extent of local problems.
Collecting data on ASB is not straightforward. Data relating to ASB are collected by a variety of agencies that you will need to contact including:
police
environmental health
housing departments
fire service
Gaining an accurate picture of ASB at a local, regional and national level is problematic, due, in part, to the variation in the definitions and measurement of ASB among agencies
The Anti-Social Behaviour Unit conducted a one day count of ASB in 2003. Here are the results of the Anti-Social Behaviour Day Count 2003. However, the day count data should be used with care - it should not be used as a benchmark or baseline because of the variations in response. Guidance on how to use the day count data can be found on the Anti-Social Behaviour Website.
As part of this work, the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit produced this list of behaviours in relation to ASB, which you might find useful when you are auditing ASB.
Show me the list of Anti-social behaviours
Potential data sources
You may want to investigate these data sources:
Police
Local Authority
Education
Environmental Health
Housing
Fire Service
Voluntary Sector
Registered Social Landlords
Neighbourhood Warden Schemes
More information
The Home Office Anti-Social Behaviour Website
"Best Behaviour: Shared Learning from the West Midlands on Anti-Social Behaviour and Young People"
This publication from the Government Office for West Midlands/NYA contains information on shared learning about ASB and young people in the regionTackling Anti-Social Behaviour: what really works?
This NACRO publication contains relevant guidance on ASB
Alcohol-related crime and disorder
The Government’s strategy for tacking the harm and costs of alcohol misuse in England is due to be published soon.
More information about the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit Alcohol Harm Reduction project can be found on the strategy unit website.
Potential data sources
Guidance for Local Partnerships on Alcohol Related Crime and Disorder Data
This publication contains guidance on how the best ways to gather and use data on alcohol-related crime and disorder
More information
Domestic violence
Information on domestic violence may not be as readily available as for other crime types because of:
Under-reporting. Only 12% of incidents are reported to the police so you cannot rely on police data alone to provide a full picture.
Lack of data collection. Many agencies do not collect information regularly on the number of cases where domestic violence is an issue.
Domestic violence is not a recorded offence type - so no separate data are published.
The personal and hidden nature of domestic violence, public surveys, whatever their methodology, will not reveal the true extent of domestic violence.
Potential data sources
You may want to investigate these data sources:
Police, who are still the source of data on domestic violence
As the majority of incidents are not reported, you must also gather information from other sources. A whole range of agencies will come into contact with victims of domestic violence including:
Health professionals
Schools
Housing services
Social services
Voluntary sector
Specialist support projects
Victim support
Relate
Family law solicitors
Civil courts
Criminal justice services
These agencies are potential sources of information about prevalence, incidence, patterns of help seeking and need. Some agencies will record the number of victims either by collecting information systematically and entering it onto a database or by recording information in case files.
It is possible to implement a multi-agency data collection system where each agency records information systematically. This will provide an overview of the number of victims seeking help, help seeking patterns, the type of support received and needed and will also highlight areas for improvement. Practical advice about how best to manage domestic violence data and about maximising the use of data that has been collected can be found on the Crime Reduction Website
Another option is to conduct a "Day to Count" (or a "Week to Count"). This is where all relevant partner agencies are asked to collect information on domestic violence for a specified period. This method can potentially provide useful and robust information without placing too much burden on service providers, especially if it is repeated regularly. However, some caution must be used when selecting the day to conduct the count, for example, Saturday will produce different results to Tuesday.
Here is more information about a national "Day to Count" conducted by Professor Betsy Stanko in September 2000.
More information
Drugs
The drugs agenda must be an equal part of the crime, disorder and drug misuse audit and strategy.
Potential data sources You may want to investigate these data sources:
National Treatment Agency
National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) based in Public Health Observatories
National Probation Service
Prison Service
Drug Action Team partner agencies
Local police data
More information
Fear of crime
The Public Reassurance agenda is now a high priority for many partnerships and an issue that most will address in crime, disorder and drug audits and strategies.
The Fear of Crime Toolkit may help you to identify some of the possible factors that may create fear of crime. It includes a Fear of Crime Matrix, which was designed to help partnerships identify local fear issues and indicate the approach best suited to their particular area.
Potential data sources
You may want to investigate these data sources:
British Crime Survey (BCS), which is the main source of data on the fear of crime.
The BCS looks at people’s attitudes to crime, such as how much they fear crime and what measures they take to avoid it. The BCS moved to an annual cycle from 2001/02, with 40,000 interviews of people aged 16 or over now taking place each year.
Latest full results are contained in Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003. Data on fear of crime is now available at police force area level. You can find this information contained in Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003 in Chapter 6, table 6.06.Many partnerships now undertake their own fear of crime surveys, which are a source of local primary data.
Research conducted by partner agencies, for example citizens panels and life style surveys, where fear of crime questions may be included.
More information
You can e-mail the Home Office Fear of Crime Team with any enquiries: fearofcrime@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Home Office Patterns of Crime webpage
Victims and witnesses
You should consider how to involve victims and witnesses in the audit and strategy process and be aware of, and make appropriate links to, the work of Local Criminal Justice Boards.
The Government has stated its commitment to improving services to victims and witnesses:
The ‘Justice for all’ White Paper set out how the Government wanted to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 took forward some of these recommendations, for example special measures to protect witnesses.
You may want to consider:
the needs of victims and witnesses of crime and anti-social behaviour and gain an understanding of the incentives that make them take a stand and the support they value
the current provision that supports victims and witnesses inside and outside the criminal justice system
the main providers of local support services
how provision could be improved and/or better co-ordinated to meet the needs of victims and witnesses
Potential data sources
You may want to investigate these data sources:
Witness Service
Victim Support
British Crime Survey
More information
‘A new deal for victims and witnesses’ - National strategy to deliver improved services
Together: Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour" the Government's Action Plan
‘The experiences of victims and witnesses’ Audit Commission report
The Government’s Witness Intimidation Strategy
Work-related violence
Potential data sources
British Crime Survey (BCS), which looks at people’s attitudes to crime, such as how much they fear crime and what measures they take to avoid it. The BCS moved to an annual cycle from 2001/02, with 40,000 interviews of people aged 16 or over now taking place each year.
Latest full results are contained in Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003 and contain statistics on violence in the work place.
More information
The Health and Safety Executive at:
Last update: Tuesday, July 22, 2008