Truth in numbers
Published: 24 October 2011
Date: 24 October 2011
By: Laurie Bell
Official government data on victims' and witnesses' experiences of CJS can be misleading
It’s probably a generally good principle in life to be wary of statistics. It can often seem that they obscure and distort at least as much as they illuminate. And dubious data can be dangerous, particularly when it is used to guide policy and practice. To help make the best possible decisions, we need the best possible data.
Recent research by Victim Support has indicated that official government compliance data on victims and witnesses is not telling the whole story.
Up until recently, the standard of service to victims by criminal justice agencies (including the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts) in England and Wales was measured through the Ministry of Justice Witness and Victim Experience Survey (WAVES). WAVES data is no longer being collected but, as it’s yet to be replaced, it remains a main source for assessing whether victims and witnesses get the service they are due.
However, our recent Victim Voice survey has clearly shown what has long been suspected: that the data paints a misleadingly rosy picture of victims' and witnesses’ experiences of the criminal justice system (CJS).
The Victim Voice survey replicated a survey from WAVES on how regularly victims who reported their crime to police were kept informed of progress. We found that 45 per cent of victims were not kept updated at all. Latest WAVES data puts it at 9 per cent.
The reason for this discrepancy is essentially down to the fact that WAVES only covers cases in which an offender is charged and usually also where the case goes to trial. These represent only a fraction of all cases: only around 2 in 10 incidents reported to police result in a charge or caution, and a yet smaller proportion end up in court[1]. Victim Voice and the British Crime Survey (BCS) both show that when a more representative sample of victims is used, the results can be alarming.
As ‘Left in the dark(866 KB)’ – our recent research report containing the WAVES, BCS and Victim Voice analysis – demonstrates, there are in fact millions of victims being left in the dark about their case each year, causing considerable frustration, distress and loss of confidence in the police and CJS.
Following a government review, WAVES was cancelled at the end of 2010. Despite a commitment to find alternative ways of collecting data on victims and witnesses, one has yet to emerge. Which is worse: bad data or no data? We’re not quite sure, but are keen to see the introduction of an accurate method of measuring how the CJS is treating victims and witnesses as soon as possible.
[1] 2009/10 BCS figures show that in concluded investigations, police charged or cautioned someone for the offence in 21% of incidents, and did not charge or caution in 79% of incidents (unweighted base: 4,071)