Police 'Crime' Maps

I know I moved out last year (thank goodness) and some will think I shouldn't comment but after 25 years in SE1 can't resist a look now and than. Has anyone else checked the London 'crime' maps recently published on the net? Southwark is the only 'red' London borough giving it the dubious honour of being the worst crime area in the capital. A more in depth look shows Webber Street area in orange (above average crime levels); it wasn't my imagination after all! See http://maps.met.police.uk/

If you look at the "trend" tab, though, it does appear crime levels are going down.

The founder of MindYourStreet, a third-party crime map site, got in touch last week:

http://www.mindyourstreet.com/londonboroughs/southwark/

http://www.mindyourstreet.com/londonboroughs/lambeth/

The trouble with all crime statistics is that they only cover reported crimes. The extra issue with these crime maps is that they give no indication of the nature of crimes committed. But still quite interesting, if mildly disconcerting.

longlaner wrote:

The trouble with all crime statistics is that they only cover reported crimes.

How can unreported crimes be used in statistics?

The whole area is not in fact high. The link to the met office site has a postcode search, my SE1 postcode is yellow (average). I for one feel safe and don't find it especially helpful for people to say 'I told you it was dangerous'. Like anywhere in London you need to be sensible.

Jonathan K wrote:

How can unreported crimes be used in statistics?

That is precisely my point! They can't be, but this means that the statistics convey a misleading impression. Claims about rates of crime going up or down are doubtful. Research by think tanks and independent bodies suggests an increasing percentage of crimes go unreported, so statements based on the statistics relating to reported crimes don't actually reflect the real trends.

I've just done a long post about crime in SE11. It seems to me that the colouring on the map might be misleading because of the size of the Boroughs. Wesminster, whilst having fewer crimes than Lambeth is displayed as "above average" in crime, presumably because it's a smaller size.

I submitted detailed feedback asking for futhur breakdown of particular crime and for reporting on violent crime. There's a large difference (in my mind) between car crime and burglary, and I'd like to see that reflected.

I think the presence of a major station in the area pushes certain places into the "High" crime bracket. I noticed the areas that contained Vauxhall Station, Elephant and Castle Station and Waterloo Station were marked in "red" for high crime. Some of this must be because criminals will take advantage of tourists, and my guess is that tourists are more likely to report crime because there are plenty of police around the stations who they can report it to.

What will be interesting is whether the map itself will begin to cause people to report incidents of crime in their area that they might not otherwise have reported. It might start to look as though there are more crimes committed in particular areas just because people decide to report it for the chart.

Interesting that the area around Kennington Road Police Station is a "higher crime" area marked in red! Also, I don't quite understand how there can be a green area right next door to a red area, odd to have such extremes on the same street.