Review of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics:
Consultation Paper
Social Conditions Business Unit
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Citation
Statistics New Zealand. (2008). Review of crime and criminal justice statistics:
consultation paper
Wellington: Statistics New Zealand
Published in June 2008 by Statistics New Zealand
Tatauranga Aotearoa Wellington, New Zealand _____________________
ISBN 978-0-478-31528-8
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Contents
Executive summary...5
1 Background ...8
1.1 Introduction to the review process...8
1.2 Statistical reviews ...8
1.3 Scope ...9
1.4 Overview of the justice sector ...9
1.5 The significance of crime and criminal justice statistics ...11
1.6 Past reviews of crime and criminal justice statistics ...12
1.7 Changes since the 1982 review ...12
1.8 The crime and criminal justice framework ...13
2 Enduring research and policy topics ...18
2.1 Topic 1: Trends in the nature and extent of crime ...18
2.2 Topic 2: Victims ...19
2.3 Topic 3: Offenders...20
2.4 Topic 4: Crime prevention ...21
2.5 Topic 5: Responses to crime...23
2.6 Topic 6: Access to justice services...25
2.7 Topic 7: Costs of crime...26
2.8 Topic 8: Public perceptions of crime and criminal justice ...27
2.9 Other information requirements...28
3 Identifying key statistical development areas ...29
3.1 Trends in the nature and extent of crime...30
3.2 Victims...32
3.3 Offenders...33
3.4 Crime prevention ...35
3.5 Responses to crime...36
3.6 Access to justice services ...37
3.7 Costs of crime ...37
3.8 Public perceptions of crime and criminal justice...38
3.9 Conclusion...38
Glossary ...40
References...47
Appendix 1 Paths through the criminal justice system ...55
Appendix 2 Related work...57
Appendix 3 Recommendations of the report of the review on New Zealand justice statistics 1982...60
Appendix 4 Information sources ...66
Appendix 5 Members of the working group ...100
Figures 1 Justice sector outcomes and agencies ...10
2 Crime and criminal justice conceptual framework...14
3 Crime prevention partnerships ...22
Executive summary
Introduction to the review process
Statistics New Zealand is undertaking a review of crime and criminal justice statistics.
Because a range of agencies produce and use these statistics, the review involves consultation with individuals, groups, and agencies within, and with interest in, the justice sector. This review is part of a broader initiative under section 7 of the
Statistics Act 1975 to undertake periodic reviews of official subject-matter statistics in consultation with other agencies, and interested individuals and groups. A review of this type for crime and criminal justice statistics was last undertaken in 1982.
The purpose of this review is to establish key priorities for the official statistics system to address in the field of crime and criminal justice.
A working group of experts from justice sector agencies has been involved in the preparation of this document, and has worked through a process of identifying the enduring research and policy questions relating to crime and criminal justice, assessing the extent to which data is available to answer these questions, and identifying key areas for statistical development. The next stage in the review involves making this paper available to the public for comment.
The final key statistical development priorities for the official statistics system to address in the field of crime and criminal justice will be established after the public consultation, and the Government Statistician will then consider recommendations on addressing these priorities. Justice sector and Statistics New Zealand officials will then work together to implement the recommendations.
Statistical reviews
Statistical reviews are an important aspect of Statistics New Zealand's role in leading, strengthening and coordinating the development and ongoing integrity of the official statistics system. Statistical reviews seek to:
• develop a long-term picture of information needs, rather than reacting to issues
• develop a coordinated plan to address issues, rather than tackling them on a piecemeal basis
• work in partnership with other agencies to obtain agreement to priorities, rather than take a single agency view.
This statistical review covers crime and criminal justice. Although not all crimes are reported to or detected by police or other enforcement agencies, these crimes are still included in the review. The criminal justice system formally deals with crimes and offenders that are reported to or detected by enforcement agencies. Civil matters dealt with by the courts are not included in the statistical review.
Enduring research and policy topics
This section identifies enduring key information needs of users. Eight topics and associated questions were identified.
Topic 1 Trends in the nature and extent of crime: What is the size and nature of crime in New Zealand and how is it changing?
Topic 2 Victims: Who are the victims of crime and in what ways are they affected by crime victimisation?
Topic 3 Offenders: What are the characteristics of offenders and what types of crime are committed by what offenders?
Topic 4 Crime prevention: What measures are effective in preventing crime?
Topic 5 Responses to crime: How efficient and effective is the criminal justice system in responding to crime, holding offenders to account and reducing the incidence of criminal offending and reoffending?
Topic 6 Access to justice: How accessible are the different parts of the criminal justice system to victims and offenders?
Topic 7 Costs of crime: What is the cost of crime to individuals and society?
Topic 8 Public perceptions of crime and criminal justice: What are the public's attitudes to, and knowledge about, crime and criminal justice issues?
Assessment of the extent to which statistical needs are being met There is a wide range of official statistics on crime and criminal justice in New Zealand. These compare favourably with other countries such as Australia, Canada and the UK, and cover the major areas outlined by the United Nations in its "Manual for the Development of a System of Criminal Justice Statistics" (United Nations 2003). However, there are some gaps in the statistical information base or where there is scope for improving the quality of the available statistics.
Key statistical development areas
Nine key areas for the official statistics system to address have been identified.
Except for key statistical development area I, these apply to both young and adult offenders. They are not listed in order of priority. In some of these areas preliminary work is already underway, but substantial work is still required. Other areas are new and have potential for development. The final key statistical development areas and the measures to address them will be placed in order of priority after this paper has been made available to the public for comment.
A There is potential for making better use of existing data for statistical purposes within the crime and criminal justice sector, particularly the administrative data. This could be facilitated by improved access to the data to enable more analysis, and by identifying which statistics should be produced from administrative data at each stage in the criminal justice process (underway).
B Existing published statistics should be assessed for suitability to become Tier 1 official statistics (potential new development).
C New Zealand Police has operated without a documented national standard for recording crimes. This has meant that it was possible for staff based in different locations to interpret and classify situations differently. However, in April 2008, Police Executive Committee approved a national recording standard which becomes policy on 1 July 2008. Implementation and
ongoing operation of the standard should be monitored to ensure it is effective (underway).
D Different procedures, definitions and classifications are used across the criminal justice system. Standard definitions and classifications
coordinated by the Justice Sector Information Strategy (JSIS) should be implemented for administrative data and surveys (underway).
E There is also a need to improve the comparability of data within the criminal justice system with data from other parts of the official statistics system. The classifications used to code the data are often inconsistent or not readily reconcilable with other official statistics classifications and coding, making comparisons across social variables and geographic areas problematic (underway).
F The survey methodology and instrument of the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS) have been significantly improved with each survey. However, these improvements have not made it possible to use the data from the surveys to monitor crime trends over time. There is a need to use consistent methodologies and questionnaires to ensure comparability of crime trends (underway).
G Information on victims from the police, including the relationship between an offender and a victim, is required to complement what is available on NZCASS (potential new development).
H Existing police statistics on offenders are based on events. Statistics on distinct offenders should become part of police official statistics (potential new development).
I Statistics on children and young persons who offend are fragmented as they are spread across three agencies (New Zealand Police, Child, Youth and Family, and the Ministry of Justice) making it difficult to develop a coherent picture of youth offending. These agencies will work together to share data for statistical and research purposes (subject to legislation) (underway).
Submission process
This report has been designed to assist users to make submissions to Statistics New Zealand about crime and criminal justice statistics. The submission should provide details about users’ information needs and what they use the information for. The submissions will be evaluated and priorities set according to a focus on enduring information needs (that is, likely to be relevant for at least five years). They should also meet at least one of the following criteria:
1. be relevant to crime and criminal justice policy (that is, development,
evaluation or monitoring) or contribute to a better understanding of crime and criminal justice
2. fill a gap or address a deficiency in the existing body of official statistics, where official statistics must:
• provide valid and cost-effective measurement
• confer public benefits that clearly outweigh the compliance burden and privacy impact.
1 Background
1.1 Introduction to the review process
Statistics New Zealand is undertaking a review of crime and criminal justice statistics.
The review involves consultation with individuals, groups, and agencies within, and with an interest in, the justice sector. This review is part of a broader initiative under section 7 of the Statistics Act 1975 to undertake periodic reviews of official subject- matter statistics in consultation with other agencies. A review of this type for the crime and criminal justice domain was last undertaken in 1982.
The purpose of this review is to establish key priorities for the official statistics system to address in the field of crime and criminal justice.
A working groupof experts from justice sector agencies was involved in the preparation of this document, and worked through a process of identifying the enduring research and policy questions (chapter 2), assessing the extent to which data is available to answer these needs (chapter 3 and appendix 4), and identifying nine key statistical development areas (chapter 3). The next stage in the review involves making this paper available to the public for comment.
The final key statistical development areas for the official statistics system to address will be established after the public consultation, and the Government Statistician will then consider recommendations on addressing these developments. Justice sector and Statistics New Zealand officials will work together to implement the
recommendations.
1.2 Statistical reviews
Statistical reviews are an important aspect of Statistics New Zealand’s role in
leading, strengthening and coordinating the development and ongoing integrity of the official statistical system. This leadership role is largely achieved through promoting shared responsibility and the cooperation of other agencies to improve official statistics.
Statistical reviews provide a structured approach in areas which span the statistical activities of several agencies or sectors. Specifically, they seek to:
• develop a long-term picture of information needs, rather than reacting to issues
• develop a coordinated plan to address issues, rather than tackling them on a piecemeal basis
• work in partnership with other agencies to obtain agreement to priorities, rather than take a single agency view.
Statistical reviews are tailored to the uniqueness of each sector and the needs of the stakeholders concerned. Notwithstanding this, there are some common threads which include:
• identifying the key questions – the starting point for all statistical reviews is to identify the enduring research, policy, planning and monitoring questions that stakeholders are seeking to answer
• identifying key data sources relevant to these questions – undertake a stocktake of data sources that are currently available to answer the research and policy questions
• identifying barriers to answering the key questions – assess the available data sources in light of the information required to answer the key research and policy questions. Barriers may include, for example, information gaps, poor data quality, privacy constraints, timeliness issues and lack of coherence between available data sources
• having a strategic focus over at least the next five years – to avoid being focused on operational or short-term policy demands, all plans aim to have a minimum time horizon of at least five years
• identifying key priorities and how to address them: a key part of the plan is to make trade-offs amongst competing needs and develop a list of key priorities together with the key steps needed to achieve these.
This review has identified key priorities for the official statistics system to address in the crime and criminal justice field. However, key steps needed to address these priorities will be identified after this paper has been made available to the public for comment.
1.3 Scope
This statistical review covers crime and criminal justice. Although not all crimes are reported to or detected by police or other enforcement agencies, these crimes are still included in the review. The criminal justice system formally deals with crimes and offenders that are reported to or detected by enforcement agencies.
The criminal offences dealt with by courts in New Zealand are included in the scope of this statistical review, but civil matters dealt with by the courts are not. Civil matters dealt with by the High Court include company law, bankruptcy, the administration of estates and trusts, property transfer, land valuation, and many other areas. Four other types of court deal with civil matters: the Employment Court, Mäori Land Court, Environment Court, and Family Court.
1.4 Overview of the justice sector
The justice sector comprises a diverse array of institutions and participants in which justice sector agencies work together to an agreed set of justice sector outcomes. A diagram in the Ministry of Justice Statement of Intent 1 July 2007–30 June 2008 illustrates the justice sector outcomes, sector agencies, Crown entities and other agencies. An amended version of this diagram is reproduced in figure 1 with elements not relevant to this statistical review removed.
A key focus of current policies and programmes in the justice sector is the protection of public safety and the provision of a fair and effective justice system (Ministry of Justice 2007a). The importance of these two areas is reflected in the following two key outcomes for the sector:
• safer communities
• civil and democratic rights and obligations enjoyed.
Supporting these outcomes are several intermediate outcomes, or short-term goals.
These include:
Justice Sector Outcomes and Agencies ted from Ministry of Justice Statement of Intent 1 July 2007–30 June 2008
A safe and just society Impact of crime reduced Offenders held to account Crime reduced Trusted justice systemAccessible justice services
Safer communities Civil and democratic rights and obligations enjoyed Sector agencies Core sector agencies Ministry of Justice New Zealand Police Department of Corrections Ministry of Social Development Crown entities and other agencies Legal Services Agency Law Commission
Justice sector outcomes
• impact of crime reduced
• offenders held to account
• crime reduced
• trusted justice system
• accessible justice services.
The goals and activities of individual agencies within the justice sector are closely aligned with these intermediate and longer term outcomes, and have a strong focus around working collaboratively with other agencies and the community.
When an offence is committed different agencies are responsible for different parts of the criminal justice system. The same offences and offenders flow sequentially through the system, with decisions being made about the offender and offence at each stage. Diagrams showing the major paths through the criminal justice system are given in appendix 1. These diagrams will assist understanding of the need for statistics at each stage.
Young offenders (both children and young persons) follow a different path through the system than adult offenders, so separate diagrams are provided for the adult system and the Youth Justice system. Two distinct groups of youth offenders, differing in age, are covered under different sections of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989: child offenders (aged 10–13 years) and young persons who offend (aged 14–16 years).
The agencies in the justice sector work together on projects to achieve the outcomes shown in figure 1. A number of these projects are relevant to this review. For
example, the Justice Sector Information Strategy (JSIS) provides a framework to manage and share relevant information between justice sector agencies. Good information-sharing systems will ensure that the administrative data used to generate statistics is of good quality. Examples of the sector working together that are relevant to this review are given in appendix 2.
Agencies involved in administering the criminal justice system have data systems to assist them to use their records for operational purposes. Most crime and criminal justice statistics in New Zealand are produced from these systems. Using this data does lead to some trade-offs between operational needs and circumstances, and the type of data recording that would be desirable for statistical purposes. The collection of ethnicity information is an obvious example. This issue is discussed in more detail in section 3.1.
1.5 The significance of crime and criminal justice statistics
Crime and criminal justice statistics are used to monitor the nature and extent of criminal activity in the community and its impacts on the safety and well-being of individuals and families. They are essential to monitoring the performance of different elements of the justice system and in the development of practical interventions to reduce crime and protect public safety. With the growth of evidence-based policy, the demand for good quality statistical information to support operational and strategic decision-making has increased. The needs of evidence-based policy development have also created pressure to deal with issues in ways that take into account the different drivers of the justice system. This need requires that data on crime is able to be related to data from other social sectors and across agencies.
The United Nations’ (2003) "Manual for the Development of a System of Criminal Justice Statistics" provides guidelines on how to set up a system of criminal justice
statistics and what should be in such a system. The major areas that should be included in a system of criminal justice statistics are:
• the criminal event
• the criminal act
• the offender
• the victim
• the criminal justice system
• unit of count (for example, crimes, or offenders, or victims)
• standard offence classifications
• demographic, social and economic information.
Crime and criminal justice statistics attract a great deal of interest from the media and the general public who want information about crime and disorder, particularly about their local community. This information helps the public assess the risk of crime in their everyday lives. They also use this information to evaluate government responses to crime and to hold local community organisations to account. Public confidence in the justice system is influenced by community perceptions of how well the police are able to apprehend offenders, the appropriateness of penalties imposed on offenders by courts, and the effect of these penalties on offenders in the long term.
1.6 Past reviews of crime and criminal justice statistics
The last official review of justice statistics commenced in the late 1970s with its findings and recommendations published in 1982 (Department of Statistics 1982).
The review was set up following an assessment by an Interdepartmental Committee on Statistical Needs and Priorities which determined that the existing system of justice statistics needed a detailed review. The terms of reference were to review the methodology and processing needs of justice statistics, to examine any needs for additional statistics and to investigate methods for more effective exploitation of the statistics.
The review concluded that the available statistics on crime and justice needed greater integration and coordination. It stressed the importance of uniform crime- recording across the country and recommended that all collections be encouraged to use standard classifications and definitions. It highlighted the need to increase the cost-effectiveness of official statistics, through the development of a statistical system that could produce statistics directly from the Wanganui Computer. The review also noted the need for improved statistical information on victims and recidivist offenders, and for improved timeliness in the dissemination of statistics.
After the review several of its recommendations were implemented resulting in an improved system of crime and criminal justice statistics. In particular, the Wanganui Computer became the source for many statistical series. (Appendix 3 lists the recommendations of the review and assesses how well they were implemented.)
1.7 Changes since the 1982 review
Since the 1982 review, there have been some major changes in the justice sector. In 1990 the responsibility for publishing justice statistics moved from the Department of Statistics to the justice sector agencies. One effect of this change was the removal of statistical series no longer considered important. However, since the control of the statistics moved to the agencies involved in policy advice to the government, the
meant that data could be kept and used to produce statistics needed to assist with policy advice. The Department of Justice’s series "Conviction and Sentencing of Offenders in New Zealand" was first published in 1991 (Spier, Southey and Norris 1991) and, although it did not completely replace the Justice Statistics reports produced by the Department of Statistics, it provided more commentary on the figures than had been previously available.
There have also been changes in the justice sector agencies with the Department of Justice splitting into the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Courts, and the Department of Corrections in 1995. The Department for Courts and the Ministry of Justice merged into the new Ministry of Justice in 2003. The responsibility for providing Youth Justice services to children and young persons also went through several changes starting with the Department of Social Welfare splitting into several agencies including Child, Youth and Families Services. This agency is now part of the Ministry of Social Development.
Major legislative changes since the review include the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 which replaced the Children and Young Persons Act 1974;
the Criminal Justice Act 1985 was replaced by the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002. These changes were accompanied by changes in the statistics.
The Law Enforcement System (LES) — the former Wanganui Computer, which provided the central base for information processing across the justice sector for over 20 years, was decommissioned in June 2005 when the last agency ceased to use LES. As a result agencies within the sector developed their own operational systems.
Access to sector-wide information and mechanisms for cost-effectively sharing information has been a key focus of justice sector information strategies over the last 12 years.
Another significant change since the last review of justice statistics has been the shift towards a stronger focus on evidence-based policy, requiring information to address
‘what works’, ‘for whom’ and ‘why’. This was accompanied by a growing interest in outcomes, particularly for victims. As a result, crime victim surveys are now
conducted on a regular basis in New Zealand. The focus on evidence-based policy also resulted in more evaluations of the effectiveness of intervention programmes.
These evaluations often contain a statistical component where the reoffending of individuals who have attended the programme are analysed and compared with a group of similar individuals who did not attend the programme. (See, for example, Paulin and Kingi (2005) who evaluated a restorative justice programme.)
1.8 The crime and criminal justice framework
A framework provides a structured way of thinking about and organising information in a particular domain or area of interest. It defines the scope of activities in a particular area, identifies key concepts and elements associated with the area and organises these into a logical structure. It also identifies links with other relevant areas and population groups.
Figure 2 presents a conceptual framework for crime and criminal justice. The criminal justice system is dynamic and complex; therefore a framework is particularly
important. It shows key elements, connections and relationships that are important to understanding outcomes in the criminal justice sector.
Education Health Local government NGOs Social welfare
Interventions Criminal justice interventions Corrections Courts CYF Police
Societal well-being Safer communities Individual well-being Civil and democratic rights and obligations enjoyed Population groups Children Youth Women Men Mäori Migrants Family Older people Disabled
mains ntity s ess Contexts of crime and victimisation Individual Sex Age Literacy Mental health Labour market engagement
Family Structure Transitions Functions Supports Society Neighbourhood Economic conditions Population or housing density Social cohesion Globalisation
Criminal incident
Victim Offender
Criminal justice outcomes Impact of crime reduced Offenders held to account Crime reduced Trusted justice system Accessible justice services
Crime and Criminal Justice Conceptual Framework
Well-being
The overall aim of the framework is for all of the parts to work together to ensure individual and societal well-being. Well-being is influenced by criminal justice outcomes, and influences the determinants of crime and victimisation. Victims of crime and those close to them may suffer physically, emotionally and financially. The well-being of individuals may be affected not only from the direct experience of being a victim but from fear of crime generated from learning about the experience of other victims. Fear of crime may cause some people to restrict the choices they make about how to lead their lives, such as avoiding certain areas or avoiding going out at night. The well-being of offenders may be affected, for example, by having their freedom restricted through a custodial sentence or by having to pay reparation to the victim. Crime also affects the well-being of society because of the costs associated with law enforcement and the impact of crime or fear of crime on social cohesion.
Criminal justice outcomes
As outlined in section 1.4, key outcomes of the justice system include a reduction in crime, the impact of reduced crime on victims and the community, holding offenders to account, public trust and confidence in the justice system and accessible justice services. These outcomes are significant in their own right but also (because of their impact on individual and societal well-being) and are influenced by criminal justice interventions.
Contexts of crime and victimisation
Understanding justice sector outcomes requires taking account of the situational and environmental contexts that may result in crime or victimisation, as well as the range of factors in an individual’s background or life experience that may influence these events. (For example, Triggs (1997) identified that crime is influenced by a variety of factors such as the demographic structure of the population, and social and
economic conditions.) The contexts and factors are grouped into three broad categories: individual, family and society.
Individual
There are a range of characteristics of individuals that may predispose them to either engage in criminal behaviour or become a victim. (Note that the characteristics influencing whether an individual becomes a victim or an offender may be different.) These characteristics include literacy and skill development, mental and emotional health, socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes and beliefs, and lifestyles.
Family
The family environment exerts a powerful influence on the development of
individuals. Parents’ values and beliefs, parenting styles, conflict and violence in the home, family stability, parental substance abuse, and family income and resources may contribute to or protect individuals from becoming an offender or victim.
Society
The extent to which communities are cohesive, inclusive and supportive can have an influence on levels of crime and victimisation. Informal social control in communities can be important to the local management of crime. The diversity of communities – ethnic, religious and cultural – can also influence outcomes, as can situational
factors, such as land use or building design. Increasing globalisation has influenced the cohesion of communities.
Criminal incidents
Criminal incidents are those where a crime, as defined in legislation, has been committed, regardless of whether or not they come to the attention of the criminal justice system. Reported or detected incidents initiate criminal justice processes.
Three characteristics of a criminal incident are of interest: the type of incident (or crime), victims, and offenders.
Type of incident
The type of crime committed is one of the factors that determine criminal justice intervention. For example, legislation may state whether a custodial sentence can be imposed or not, and may also state the maximum length of any custodial sentence.
Victim
Most, but not all, criminal incidents have a victim associated with them. The victim may be an individual or an organisation. Staff misappropriation of company funds is an example of an organisation being victimised. In some instances a criminal incident may involve multiple victims, such as an arson attack on a residential boarding hostel.
Offender
All crimes involve one or more offenders, although the offender(s) is not always identified and subject to criminal justice processes. As with the victim, the offender may be an individual or an organisation. The description of the offender changes as they move through the criminal justice system. For example, a person may be a suspected offender to begin with. As the investigation of the incident proceeds, this status may change to an alleged offender, a convicted offender and ultimately, to a prison inmate.
Interventions
Criminal justice interventions
Criminal incidents may trigger various interventions. These may occur when an offender is identified and formal criminal justice processes follow. Agencies involved in these processes include: the New Zealand Police, Ministry of Social Development (Child, Youth and Family), the Ministry of Justice (courts), the Department of
Corrections, and the Ministry of Health (mental health services). Local government is involved in local crime prevention activities. Both offenders and victims may be affected by these interventions.
The justice system may also intervene through developing policies, changing legislation, and running programmes to provide services for offenders.
Other interventions
In addition to the criminal justice interventions, a number of agencies outside the justice system may intervene in matters involving victims and offenders. Non-
government agencies include Victims Support, Prisoners’ Aid Rehabilitation Society, and Women’s Refuge.
Interventions are affected by the availability of resources such as the police, judges and prisons and may lead to intended or unintended outcomes for individuals and society as a whole.
Related social domains
The justice system does not operate in isolation. Interventions and outcomes in other domains (such as knowledge and skills, cultural identity, and health) may have a desirable or undesirable effect on outcomes in the justice sector. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that affect justice sector outcomes. These can be influenced by policy, the broad range of policy levers that can influence outcomes, and the extent to which integration of policy levers across sectors may maximise policy impact.
Population groups
The likelihood of being a criminal offender or the victim of a crime does not fall evenly across all groups in the population. Those known to be at risk include males, youth, and people belonging to particular ethnic groups, such as Mäori and Pacific peoples.
2 Enduring research and policy topics
The field of crime and criminal justice is complex, involving a wide range of stakeholders. These include government agencies, research organisations, the private sector and community organisations concerned with addressing the specific needs of offenders, victims, and the general public.
Statistical information required by stakeholders is diverse. Data is required for many purposes, including:
• development of appropriate policies, programmes and services
• monitoring and evaluation of such policies, programmes and services
• undertaking of research and analysis
• communication of information about crime and criminal justice issues to the public.
This section presents an overview of the main information needs of users, focusing on enduring rather than short-term needs. It is important for an official statistical system to strike a balance between current information needs that may not endure beyond the present, and long-term needs that will endure. The timeframe and investment needed to develop or adapt official statistical collections means that it is more important to address enduring information needs.
Questions for stakeholders are included after each topic so that they can be considered in context.
Chapter 3 evaluates whether the needs identified under each topic are being met by existing information sources.
This section draws on the information presented in the strategic plans of the Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Police, and the Department of Corrections. It also draws on the intelligence gained through the development of the Programme of Official Social Statistics, where there was extensive consultation with social sector and population- based agencies to identify the enduring research and policy questions.
2.1 Topic 1: Trends in the nature and extent of crime
What is the size and nature of the crime problem in New Zealand and how is it changing?
This topic is relevant to all aspects of the ’criminal incident’ section of the framework.
It also links to the outcome of ’crime reduced’ and ’impact of crime reduced’.
A fundamental requirement of justice sector policy and planning is information on the incidence and severity of different types of crime, and more particularly on the types of crime where levels are changing. This information is required at a national and local level, to provide a picture of how crime varies between different parts of the country. There is growing interest in comparing New Zealand’s crime level with that of other countries, despite the varying criminal justice systems. Another need is for more information on the circumstances surrounding criminal incidents, such as the time and location of the incident, whether weapons were involved, and the
relationship of the offender to the victim. There is substantial evidence that crime tends to cluster in certain places and certain times, and that the offender and victim are often related or known to each other. Situational information about criminal incidents is needed to inform crime prevention strategies and programme planning.
Certain types of crime, such as violent offending (including family violence and sexual offending) are of particular interest because of the potential severity of the impacts on victims. The hidden nature of family violence and some sexual offending makes it difficult to know the true extent of these crimes in society.
Two dynamic factors that may significantly affect criminal offending in the coming years and which are largely visible now are globalisation and technology.
Globalisation has resulted in an increasing flow of people, goods and capital across national borders. This flow has presented new opportunities for criminal acts and threats to safety and security. These threats include terrorist acts, smuggling of illegal drugs, money laundering schemes and the use of illegal offshore tax havens.
Similarly, advances in science and technology have given rise to an increasingly technology-dependent and interconnected world accompanied by issues of privacy, security and intellectual property. Technology not only provides new opportunities for crimes (such as fraud, theft of intellectual property and identity, price fixing, and child pornography) but also the ability to commit them faster and with a greater degree of anonymity.
Questions for stakeholders
1. What information do you need on the nature and extent of crime that is currently missing or of poor quality?
2. How would you or your organisation use this information for crime and criminal justice research and policy?
3. Should we add or change anything in this section of the paper?
2.2 Topic 2: Victims
Who are the victims of crime and in what ways are they affected by crime victimisation?
This topic focuses on the ‘victim’ part of the ‘criminal incident’ section of the framework. The topic is related to the ‘determinants of crime’, and is connected to outcomes ‘impact of crime reduced’ and ‘trust in the justice system’. Some population groups are more likely to be the victims of crime than others and this topic recognises the importance of the ‘population groups’ part of the framework.
Information about victims is needed to monitor and assess the impact of crime on the well-being of various sectors of the community. Key information needs includes the characteristics of victims, the type of crime they were subjected to, and the
circumstances surrounding the crime (for example, location, relationship of victim and offender, involvement of alcohol, etc). This information will be used to understand risk factors for crime victimisation and to focus crime prevention efforts (for example, how extensive are the connections between particular socio-demographic factors and crime victimisation?). People who repeatedly experience crime, and the types of crimes they are victims of, are of special interest to justice sector practitioners.
The development of strategies to prevent crime and protect public safety partly depends on understanding victim behaviour in relation to criminal incidents and the effectiveness of measures taken by people to protect themselves and reduce their fear of crime. Relevant information includes the extent to which people report victimisation to the police, their satisfaction with police response, and the effectiveness of support services. For those who choose not to report incidents, information is needed on the reasons for non-reporting.
Understanding the impacts of crime on individual and societal well-being is essential for developing programmes and services to support victims. The impacts can involve financial loss, property damage, physical injury, psychological and emotional trauma and even death. They can be immediate or long-term in nature and can affect many different areas of peoples’ lives, such as their participation in employment, their income and their leisure time activities. Furthermore, the impacts of victimisation can extend beyond those people immediately affected to include family, friends,
neighbours and whole communities – secondary or indirect victims – who may suffer trauma as a result of crime. Empirical data is needed to assess the impacts (both immediate and long-term) of victimisation on those who have been directly and indirectly affected.
Questions for stakeholders
1. What information do you need on victims that is currently missing or of poor quality?
2. How would you or your organisation use this information for crime and criminal justice research and policy?
3. Should we add or change anything in this section of the paper?
2.3 Topic 3: Offenders
What are the characteristics of offenders and what types of crime are committed by what offenders?
There are relationships between the ‘offender’, the ‘criminal incident’ and the ‘victim’
parts of the framework. There is also a connection to the ‘population groups’ and
‘determinants of crime’.
Statistical information is needed to monitor changes in the characteristics of offenders, and their offending over time, so that programmes and services can be targeted at those groups most at risk of offending and reoffending. Stakeholders want information on offenders that provides an indication of their prevalence in different groups in the population (for example, age, sex, ethnicity, socio-economic groups), as well as the seriousness of the crimes they have committed.
Repeat offenders and career criminals are of particular interest. Information is needed on their characteristics (for example, age at first offence, progression of offending, interaction with the criminal justice system over time, types of offences committed) and the amount of crime for which they are responsible. This information would assist research on predicting the likelihood of offending, and build an
understanding of the causes of crime so that appropriate and cost-effective interventions can be designed.
Other groups of interest are youth offenders and Mäori offenders. Youth offenders are of significant policy interest because of the need to evaluate the association between early intervention and a lifetime of offending. Similarly, Mäori offenders are of great interest to policy makers because they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Information is needed to help develop strategies and programmes to reduce the level of Mäori representation in the criminal justice system.
To better understand how to address the behaviour of offenders, a range of
information is needed on the circumstances of their offending, such as whether drugs or alcohol was a factor in the sequence of events leading to the commission of the
This may include, for example, information on their health status, family history and current family environment, their school experience and employment situation and their values and attitudes. Findings from longitudinal studies have shown that many serious adult offenders have come from socially and economically disadvantaged families.
Information is needed on the nature and extent of organised crime in New Zealand to develop effective strategies to combat it. Information of interest is the type of
activities that organised criminal groups are involved with, such as drug offences (trafficking, cultivation, and manufacture), financial crimes (fraud, false loans, money laundering, cheque and credit card fraud), illegal gambling and fisheries offences, the use of new technology to commit offences, and the effects of globalisation as
organised crime activities may cross national boundaries.
Gangs are one form of organised crime group. Gangs vary in their demographic make-up, level of criminal activity, and their level of organisation. In New Zealand particular attention has been paid to the formation and characteristics of youth gangs.
There is need for information on what drives youths to form gangs and the extent of their involvement in criminal activity.
Questions for stakeholders
1. What information do you need on offenders that is currently missing or of poor quality?
2. How would you or your organisation use this information for crime and criminal justice research and policy?
3. Should we add or change anything in this section of the paper?
2.4 Topic 4: Crime prevention
What measures are effective in preventing crime?
This topic informs the ‘crime reduced’ and ‘impacts of crime reduced’ outcomes of the framework. It also relates to the broader ‘individual and societal well-being’
outcomes of the framework.
There is a crime prevention element to every process throughout the criminal justice system. Therefore aspects of crime prevention can be found through other topics.
This topic focuses on crime prevention programmes that operate in communities and identifies which crime prevention strategies are most effective (based on good evidence).
Several approaches to crime prevention have developed out of different traditions.
The main approaches are:
• situational crime prevention
• social crime prevention
• developmental crime prevention
• multi-faceted crime prevention.
Situational crime prevention involves reducing crime through effective management and design of the physical environment. It aims to reduce the opportunity to commit crime, increase the risk of detection, and reduce the rewards of crime. Examples of situational crime prevention are increased lighting and surveillance cameras in public places.
Social crime prevention aims to prevent offending by providing tools to change social conditions. Some programmes strengthen community bonds, especially for those at risk of offending, and so prevent crime. Other programmes strengthen informal defences in the community (for example, Neighbourhood Support).
Developmental crime prevention focuses on the individual, based on attitudinal and behavioural change in potential offenders. An example is a programme aimed at improving children's health or education.
Multi-faceted crime prevention programmes contain elements of some or all of the other approaches.
Understanding the effectiveness of different crime prevention programmes is needed.
Internationally there is interest in evidence-based crime prevention strategies, and compiling best-practice examples of interventions that work, balanced with solutions tailored for local needs. Evaluation of crime prevention programmes helps establish best-practice models, while acknowledging what works in a particular type of
community.
Information about a neighbourhood, both before and after a crime prevention programme is implemented, that would help assess the effectiveness of the programme includes:
• socio-economic conditions
• spatial layout
• community education and health programmes available
• the level of social capital (that is, the level of social relations between people that facilitate action and cohesion)
• socio-demographics
• an effective way to link this information with recorded and actual crime levels.
Various agencies in New Zealand work in partnership to prevent crime: the police, local government, and the Crime Prevention Unit of the Ministry of Justice. This partnership approach is illustrated in figure 3.
Figure 3 Crime Prevention Partnerships
Source: Ministry of Justice website http://www.justice.govt.nz/cpu/crime-prevention-
Local service providers New Zealand Police
Local government
Crime Prevention Unit
Ministry of Justice Community organisations
Information on how these partners work together is needed to assess how effective these partnerships are in preventing and reducing crime.
Other pertinent information includes the actions taken by people to keep themselves safe. These actions may range from installing a security system in their house to prevent a further burglary, participating in self-defence courses, not walking in their neighbourhood alone after dark, or reducing their social contacts.
The private security industry has become increasingly involved in crime prevention.
Information is needed on the factors fuelling the recent growth of the private security industry and services, and the implications for the distribution and prevention of crime. An important principle behind the growth of the security industry has been the reduction of risk. There is now a competitive market for security systems and
services which may reduce the risk of crime occurring. Information is needed on the actual crime reduction and prevention potential of these, and their effect on the public's fear of crime.
Questions for stakeholders
1. What information do you need on crime prevention that is currently missing or of poor quality?
2. How would you or your organisation use this information for crime and criminal justice research and policy?
3. Should we add or change anything in this section of the paper?
2.5 Topic 5: Responses to crime
How efficient and effective is the criminal justice system in responding to crime, holding offenders to account and reducing the incidence of criminal offending and reoffending?
This topic is relevant to four outcomes in the framework (‘offenders held to account’,
‘crime reduced’, ‘trust in the justice system’, and ‘accessible justice systems’).
‘Interventions’ by criminal justice and other agencies are also part of the response to crime.
At every stage of the criminal justice system from reporting crime to sentencing, people (both offenders and victims) expect to be treated fairly and appropriately by the system.
The public expects the police to solve crimes in a timely way. How long it takes the police to respond to criminal incidents and apprehend offenders is of great interest to the public.
The whole area of offender prosecution and sentencing also attracts a great deal of public attention and debate. Stakeholders want to know how offenders are dealt with by the justice system. Some of their questions are:
• how many apprehensions result in prosecution
• how many prosecutions result in conviction
• what types of sentences are imposed for different types of crime.
Other areas of interest in relation to holding offenders to account are:
• the proportion of custodial sentences that are actually served
• the proportion of alleged offenders remanded in custody
• the frequency bailed alleged offenders fail to appear for trial
• the frequency offences are committed by those on bail or on parole
• the number of people who have assets recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991, and the value of those assets.
Whether offenders are treated fairly is an area of particular concern. Of specific interest is the extent to which sentences vary in type and severity in relation to the ethnicity and socio-economic characteristics of offenders. Similarly, there is interest in whether there are differences in the treatment of offenders between different parts of the country.
Understanding the outcomes of different types of justice sector interventions is critical to reducing reoffending and the level of crime in the community. This requires
information on the effectiveness of different sentences in reducing reoffending (such as non-custodial sentences compared with custodial sentences).
There is also need for information on the size of the prison population and the factors contributing to its growth. This information will inform forecasts of the prison
population, which are used to make decisions on the need for additional prison capacity. To develop specialised programs, information on the characteristics and well-being of prison inmates are required. For example, research studies have shown that on imprisonment, prisoners have poorer health status than the population in general, and are much more likely to experience mental health and substance abuse problems. There is particular interest in the change in the health status of people who move from the community to the care of the Department of Corrections and then back to the community.
Interventions in the Youth Justice system are designed to prevent young people becoming adult offenders. These include: police youth diversion, family group conferences, and youth court orders (custodial and community based). Information on the effectiveness of these interventions is needed as is information on the health status of young offenders.
In recent years there has been a growth in alternative justice practices. These aim to aid the rehabilitation of the offender, address the needs of victims, or increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the justice system. Examples are:
• the infringement system (developed to efficiently take care of lower-level offences)
• the diversion scheme (where first-time offenders who have committed non- serious offences, who admit their guilt and complete the diversion scheme have the court charge withdrawn)
• restorative justice schemes that attempt to bring together the victim and the offender.
Statistical information will assist with evaluating the use and effectiveness of these interventions.
Measuring the responses to crime and the effectiveness of various interventions is easier if it is possible to track an offender through the system.
Questions for stakeholders
