Crime rates are essential to consider, rather than the number of offences, as crime rates are standardised, resulting in statistics that correspond the number of people in a geographic setting with reported crime (Makkai & Prenzler, 2014). Only considering the number of crimes is misleading as it doesn’t account for an increase in aspects such as population growth or ‘risky areas’, features that impact the statistics greatly (Makkai & Prenzler, 2014). The Australia Bureau of Statistics reported crime rates had increased for the first time in six years, 2010 to 2016, across all categories of crime, however the media has long since been projecting this information to the public (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). The media doesn’t count, nor include, the demographics of an area, representing a seemly increase in crime due to over-reporting and lack of crime rate information (Media Portrayals of Crime , n.d.). As a result of negligent use of statistics, the media over-represents the state of crime, leading the public to believe the nature of crime to be constantly increasing, commonly
Crime rates are essential to consider, rather than the number of offences, as crime rates are standardised, resulting in statistics that correspond the number of people in a geographic setting with reported crime (Makkai & Prenzler, 2014). Only considering the number of crimes is misleading as it doesn’t account for an increase in aspects such as population growth or ‘risky areas’, features that impact the statistics greatly (Makkai & Prenzler, 2014). The Australia Bureau of Statistics reported crime rates had increased for the first time in six years, 2010 to 2016, across all categories of crime, however the media has long since been projecting this information to the public (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). The media doesn’t count, nor include, the demographics of an area, representing a seemly increase in crime due to over-reporting and lack of crime rate information (Media Portrayals of Crime , n.d.). As a result of negligent use of statistics, the media over-represents the state of crime, leading the public to believe the nature of crime to be constantly increasing, commonly