Editing Crime statistics (section)

==Surveys==
Because of the difficulties in quantifying how much crime actually occurs, researchers generally take two approaches to gathering statistics about crime.

However, as officers can only record crime that comes to their attention and might not record a matter as a crime if the matter is considered minor and is not perceived as a crime by the officer concerned.

For example, when faced with a domestic violence dispute between a couple, a law enforcement officer may decide it is far less trouble to arrest the male party to the dispute, because the female may have children to care for, despite both parties being equally culpable for the dispute. This sort of pragmatic decisionmaking asked if they are victims of crime, without needing to provide any supporting evidence. In these surveys it is the participant's perception, or opinion, that a crime occurred, or even their understanding about what constitutes a crime that is being measured.

As a consequence differing methodologies may make comparisons with other surveys difficult.

One way in which, while other types of crime are under reported. These surveys also give insights as to why crime is reported, or not. The surveys show that the need to make an insurance claim, seek medical assistance, and the seriousness of an offence tend to increase the level of reporting, while the inconvenience of reporting, the involvement of intimate partners and the nature of the offending tend to decrease reporting.

This allows degrees of confidence to be assigned to various crime statistics. For example: Motor vehicle thefts are generally well reported because the victim may need to make the report for an insurance claim, while domestic violence, domestic child abuse and sexual offences are frequently significantly under-reported because of the intimate relationships involved, embarrassment and other factors that make it difficult for the victim to make a report.

Attempts to use victimisation surveys from different countries for international comparison had failed in the past. A standardised survey project called ''the International Crime Victims Survey''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rechten.uvt.nl/icvs |title=The 5th round of International Crime Victims Surveys |publisher=rechten.uvt.nl |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201125851/http://rechten.uvt.nl/icvs/ |archive-date=2013-02-01 }}</ref> Results from this project have been briefly discussed earlier in this article. In 2019, the [[Global Organized Crime Index]] found that [[DRC]] had the highest rate of criminality.<ref>{{cite web | title=Countries with the Highest Criminality rate in the World | website=The Organized Crime Index | url=https://ocindex.net/ | access-date=2023-03-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=About the project | website=The Organized Crime Index | url=https://ocindex.net/ | access-date=2023-03-23}}</ref> 

Annual estimates of crimes committed in the United States range from eleven to thirty million as many acts go unreported.<ref name="Bohm Haley 2007 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Bohm | first1=R.M. | last2=Haley | first2=K.N. | title=Introduction to Criminal Justice | publisher=McGraw-Hill | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-07-352791-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxtyfgiqx2QC&q=%2224+million+crimes%22+%222004%22+%22u.s.%22 | access-date=2023-04-18 | page=}}</ref><ref name="Brown Esbensen Geis 2015 p. 112">{{cite book | last1=Brown | first1=S.E. | last2=Esbensen | first2=F.A. | last3=Geis | first3=G. | title=Criminology: Explaining Crime and Its Context | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-317-31198-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tvYWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 | access-date=2023-04-18 | page=112}}</ref><ref name="Clinard Meier 2015 p. 263">{{cite book | last1=Clinard | first1=M.B. | last2=Meier | first2=R.F. | title=Sociology of Deviant Behavior | publisher=Cengage Learning | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-305-53734-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Up2aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA263 | access-date=2023-04-18 | page=263}}</ref>

An estimated hundred million Americans have a criminal record.<ref name="g423">{{cite book | last=Asumah | first=S.N. | last2=Nagel | first2=M. | title=Reframing Diversity and Inclusive Leadership: Race, Gender, and Institutional Change | publisher=State University of New York Press | year=2024 | isbn=978-1-4384-9584-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kl7iEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT164 | access-date=2024-11-06 | page=164}}</ref><ref name="o158">{{cite book | last=Tonry | first=M. | title=Crime and Justice, Volume 52: A Review of Research | publisher=University of Chicago Press Journals | series=Crime and Justice: A Review of Research | year=2024 | isbn=978-0-226-83561-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YK7jEAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PT381 | access-date=2024-11-06 | page=1-PT381}}</ref>