Crime statistics
Importance of crime statistics
• It is important to have access to crime statistics from every region of the country=study
the nature and extent of the crimes committed.
→ priority crimes can be identified and strategies developed to combat criminality
→ This information is also of importance to government agencies in the Criminal Justice
System (CJS)
They use it to plan and manage strategies and policies.
→ published crime statistics also make the public aware of the extent of certain crimes.
• Why is crime statistics important for criminologists?
→ crime statistics are used to study criminal behaviour, as well as the characteristics
and motives of criminals.
→ They use crime statistics to collect data to verify theories on crime.
→ contribute to extending and developing criminological theories.
Crime trends
• Crime trends: are revealed by studying the increase and decrease in the rate of a
specific crime, such as murder, rape or burglary, over a period (usually a year).
→ This influenced by factors such as:
the economic climate in a country
the level of education
and the average age of the victims and perpetrators
• different types of crimes are committed in different areas or regions at different rates.
• crimes of a particular type, such as rape, are committed more often in certain areas than
crimes of another type, such as business fraud.
• In South Africa, crime trends and patterns are calculated= using variable, such as class,
age, gender and region.
Example of crime trends in South Africa:
(why is crime increasing/ why is crime decreasing?)
(still part of the example)
, ✓ Over the course of the past three years (2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2022/2023), a clear
upward trend is observed in the total count of 17 community-reported crimes as shown in
Table 1. Likewise, contact crimes, contact-related crimes, and other serious crimes have
all demonstrated upward trends. In contrast, property-related crimes experienced a
decline in 2021/2022, followed by an increase in the 2022/2023 financial year.
✓ The total of the 17 community-reported serious crimes increased by 7,1% or 105 745
counts in 2022/2023. The category of other serious crimes experienced the highest
increase of 11,2% or 43 920 counts. Contact crimes increased by 7,7% or 46 890
counts, with a total of 654 053 counts recorded in 2022/2023 compared to the preceding
period where a total of 607 163 counts were recorded. Similarly, property related, and
contact-related crime increased by 3,8% and 1,1% respectively
Crime statistics sources
• There are 2 sources from which crime statistics are derived:
Official sources of crime statistics
→ Crimes reported to the SAPS (police statistics) that resulted in prosecutions (court
statistics) and convictions (correctional statistics).
→ Crimes not reported and crimes that do NOT result in prosecutions, are not reflected
in official crime statistics
→ InSA, crime statistics are published in the annual reports of the Commissioners of the
SAPS and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).
→ Statistics concerning prosecutions of and convictions for certain offences are
published annually in Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports
Importance of crime statistics
• It is important to have access to crime statistics from every region of the country=study
the nature and extent of the crimes committed.
→ priority crimes can be identified and strategies developed to combat criminality
→ This information is also of importance to government agencies in the Criminal Justice
System (CJS)
They use it to plan and manage strategies and policies.
→ published crime statistics also make the public aware of the extent of certain crimes.
• Why is crime statistics important for criminologists?
→ crime statistics are used to study criminal behaviour, as well as the characteristics
and motives of criminals.
→ They use crime statistics to collect data to verify theories on crime.
→ contribute to extending and developing criminological theories.
Crime trends
• Crime trends: are revealed by studying the increase and decrease in the rate of a
specific crime, such as murder, rape or burglary, over a period (usually a year).
→ This influenced by factors such as:
the economic climate in a country
the level of education
and the average age of the victims and perpetrators
• different types of crimes are committed in different areas or regions at different rates.
• crimes of a particular type, such as rape, are committed more often in certain areas than
crimes of another type, such as business fraud.
• In South Africa, crime trends and patterns are calculated= using variable, such as class,
age, gender and region.
Example of crime trends in South Africa:
(why is crime increasing/ why is crime decreasing?)
(still part of the example)
, ✓ Over the course of the past three years (2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2022/2023), a clear
upward trend is observed in the total count of 17 community-reported crimes as shown in
Table 1. Likewise, contact crimes, contact-related crimes, and other serious crimes have
all demonstrated upward trends. In contrast, property-related crimes experienced a
decline in 2021/2022, followed by an increase in the 2022/2023 financial year.
✓ The total of the 17 community-reported serious crimes increased by 7,1% or 105 745
counts in 2022/2023. The category of other serious crimes experienced the highest
increase of 11,2% or 43 920 counts. Contact crimes increased by 7,7% or 46 890
counts, with a total of 654 053 counts recorded in 2022/2023 compared to the preceding
period where a total of 607 163 counts were recorded. Similarly, property related, and
contact-related crime increased by 3,8% and 1,1% respectively
Crime statistics sources
• There are 2 sources from which crime statistics are derived:
Official sources of crime statistics
→ Crimes reported to the SAPS (police statistics) that resulted in prosecutions (court
statistics) and convictions (correctional statistics).
→ Crimes not reported and crimes that do NOT result in prosecutions, are not reflected
in official crime statistics
→ InSA, crime statistics are published in the annual reports of the Commissioners of the
SAPS and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).
→ Statistics concerning prosecutions of and convictions for certain offences are
published annually in Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports
