Author(s):
Frank Neubacher, Nicole Bögelein & Mario Bachmann

Institution:
Universität zu Köln

Title:
Documenting Crime: How and through whom do cases enter the Police Crime Statistics?

Abstract:
Using two different data sets (1,985 dockets from police sta­tions in Berlin, Hesse and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania plus 335,497 cases from the internal case processing system of the Saxon police from 2013 and 322,321 cases from 2012) this study tackles the question to what extent cases are in­itiated by private individuals by means of crime reporting respectively by police perception As a result, the ratio can be rated at 90 % to 10 % in favour of private crime reporting This percentage, however, is heavily dependent on the type of offence and reaches 95 % and more for property crimes and fraud in particular At weekends and during nightshifts offences are more often detected by the police Crime is par­ticularly often reported by private individuals on Mondays Generally, reporting in person or by telephone is preferred.

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