Latest crime report statistics released
Latest crime report statistics released
ACT Policing has released its latest quarterly crime statistics for April to June 2016, showing crime reports across Canberra are down 2.8 per cent when comparing 2015-16 to last financial year.
Reports of assault, sexual assault, other offences against a person, burglary, property damage and theft decreased when comparing reports in 2015-16 to reports in 2014-15.
ACT Policing’s Crime Statistics are now available for download at policenews.act.gov.au
Reporting on ACT Policing Crime Statistics
ACT Policing’s Crime Statistics webpage was made available to the public in April 2010 to increase accountability and public awareness of crime statistics. As part of ACT Policing’s recent website redevelopment, crime statistics are now available as a downloadable excel spreadsheet.
This allows media and members of the public to view reported crime by month and patrol zone, along with statistics for several traffic offences and collisions, as far back as July 2011.
ACT Policing asks that journalists keep the following in mind when interpreting and reporting statistics:
- These statistics represent reports of crime and do not discriminate between substantiated and unsubstantiated reports. These statistics should be conveyed as reports of crime, rather than occurrences.
- These statistics are not static. New reports can be made and attributed to previous months or years. Previously published numbers may change and you will need to download a new spreadsheet each quarter.
- Patrol zones vary in population, geographical size and demographics. Comparisons between patrol zones should be represented within this context.
- Crime reports often vary across the year, and every effort should be made to compare like with like. For example, comparing reports in June 2016 with January 2016 is not a like with like comparison. Whereas, comparing crime reports in June 2016 to crime reports in June 2015 is a like with like comparison.
- Reporting changes in small data sets can be misleading. To ensure the integrity of your reporting, make every effort to report on larger data samples or longer-term trends. For example, comparing reports of assaults in Woden Patrol zone in June 2016 to June 2015 would be a small data set. Whereas, comparing reports of assaults across Canberra in 2015 compared to 2014 would be a larger data set.
- Definitions of crime types are available on the Crime Statistics webpage. Most crime types also represent attempted incidents. For example, burglary includes reports of attempt burglary. Homicide reports include reports of attempted homicide, manslaughter and manslaughter as result of a traffic collision.
Media enquiries
Police Media — (02) 6264 9460, act-police-media@afp.gov.au