| 6. Crimes and
offences cleared up by the police (Table 3 of Appendix) |
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| 6.1 The
total number of crimes cleared up by the police rose by
14,000 to 178,000 in 1998 and the clear-up rate rose from
39 per cent to 41 per cent in 1997 (Table 3). Clear-up
rates vary markedly depending on the type of crime and
reflect, in part, the differing circumstances in which
crimes come to the attention of the police. Property
related crimes tend to have comparatively low clear-up
rates and this in turn affects the total achieved. Crimes
of violence have higher clear-up rates and, for a number
of crimes in which identification of the offence and the
offender tends to occur simultaneously (for example drugs
possession), clear-up rates will tend towards 100 per
cent. In other types of crime, the police have the task
of finding the offender after the crime is discovered and
reported to them. |
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| 6.2 Within
the crime groups 1 to 5, in 1998 the clear-up rates
increased in almost every category. The overall clear-up
rate for crimes reflects the clear-up rate for the
largest group, crimes of dishonesty, and in particular,
the most frequently occurring types of crime,
housebreaking and theft. In 1998, 1 in 7 thefts by
opening a lockfast place, 1 in 5 housebreakings and 1 in
4 thefts of a motor vehicle were recorded as cleared up
by the police, an improvement on the rates experienced in
1997. |
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| Chart 4
Clear-up rates for particular crime groups, 1989 - 1998 |
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| 6.3 Most
crimes in the group "other crimes", which
includes crimes against public justice and drugs related
crimes, were cleared up. Similarly, the vast majority of
offences in the miscellaneous offences group were cleared
up. This reflects the characteristics of such crimes and
offences and the method via which they come to the
attention of the police since, in many cases (such as
drunkenness), the offender is "caught in the
act". |
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