Open AccessTHE START OF A ‘CRIME WAVE’? The 2005/06 official crime statistics in context
Author(s) -
Antoinette Louw
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
sa crime quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2413-3108
pISSN - 1991-3877
DOI - 10.17159/2413-3108/2006/v0i18a982
Subject(s) - crime statistics , context (archaeology) , government (linguistics) , position (finance) , official statistics , skepticism , political science , public security , law , statistics , economics , public administration , geography , finance , mathematics , linguistics , archaeology , epistemology , philosophy
Despite growing fears of a new ‘crime wave’, the public have access to official crime statistics only up to March 2006. Although much of the news up to this point was positive, perceptions of the statistics and of government’s position on crime in the last six months have been characterised by scepticism and alarm. The Minister of Safety and Security assured us that next year the statistics will be released soon after the end of the financial year. This, together with a much clearer strategy and commitment from government as a whole for dealing with crime, may help to assuage public anxiety.