This is how the impact of crime can spread beyond the immediate victim to family and friends. This can have a major effect on the community.
Cultural Differences
Cultural differences means that different crimes are not necessarily crimes in different countries. This means that depending where you are the rules are different which people may not be aware of meaning they may commit crime.
Procedural Change
Reporting crime has been made easier over the years. You used to only be able to report crime via telephone or face to face. Now there are many different ways you can report crime
The Broken Windows Theory
It’s a metaphor that if there is broken bus shelters, graffiti, broken windows and glass and obvious forms of crime taking place, people may believe that it’s more acceptable to commit a crime in this area.This can lead to worse crimes such as drug dealing; rape and murder.
Police Prioritisation
Police prioritise certain crimes due to
• Limited resources
• The local population
• The media
• The home office
Unrecorded Crime
A crime gets reported but the police do not record it. This could be because they don’t believe the case, there isn’t enough evidence, the victim refuses to press charges or they may not wish to investigate
Decriminalisation
There are common widespread crimes that people don’t always see as a real offence, so they are less likely to report them. People are less likely to report these crimes as they feel it’s a waste of police time in comparison to more serious crimes like rape and assault. Sometimes the crime becomes legalized.
Legal Change
Sometimes crimes go unreported for a long time because they are perceived as a human right.
