I never trust government statistics on crime. They adjust what gets included into these 'statistics' constantly. There are hundreds of incidents that occur on the MAX itself that are not called 'crimes'. For example a fight will not get included into these statistics if the parties flee or if neither party wants to file charges. There are literally hundreds of these type of incidents.
It's like the statistics that keep telling us how so many people are not driving anymore yet the traffic jams are worse than ever.
Town Center crime rates on decline
It's like the statistics that keep telling us how so many people are not driving anymore yet the traffic jams are worse than ever.
Town Center crime rates on decline
2 comments:
There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
For better or worse, a line has to be drawn somewhere as to what counts and what doesn't count. If neither party files charges, well . . . what can you do? It's similar to unemployment statistics. You can't include every person who doesn't have a job. You'd include children and retired individuals. But the current method for calculating unemployment only includes those who are actively looking for work. Why doesn't it include people who aren't looking for work? You'd skew the results again. Stay-at-home parents. Disabled individuals who are unable to work. Individuals who are independently wealthy and don't need to work.
I absolutely agree with what you're saying -- the number of incidents in the TriMet system is way underreported by the statistics. But a line has to be drawn somewhere to delineate a tussle vs an actual incident/crime.
And perhaps there is some validity to this statistic . . . if fewer reportable incidents are occurring . . . isn't that a good thing? Unless there are fewer officers available to write reports, thus reducing the total number of reports written . . .
The question I have is HAVE THEY COLLECTED AND ANALYZED THE CRIME STATS IN THE EXACT SAME METHOD SINCE 2008.
If the answer is yes, they have made absolutely no changes in the way the crime stats are collected and analyzed then I would say they are valid.
I know for a fact that police agencies 'tweek the stats' when their bosses tell them too.
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