In 2002 a study regarding the reporting of crime against small retail businesses was conducted. In this study, they reviewed information from the Small Business Crime Survey of 1999. Researchers found that the type of crime and whether the crime was successful directly affected whether or not a crime was reported.
Reporting behavior was determined to be very complex with a lot of factors affecting the decision.
One of the biggest determinations is that crime reporting was considered to be pointless and useless. This possibly has lead to an under reporting of crimes committed.
Under Reporting Of Crimes
Whether you are business owner, worker, police officer, or researcher, it is generally accepted that crimes go under reported in general. When it comes to small retail businesses, it is even further accepted that crimes are underreported. This presents problems with the enforcement of crime.
If police don’t know where crime is happening, they have less ability to strategically police. Plus, police can only work with what they have. And if they have no report, there is nothing to work on.
How Much Under Reporting Is There?
It is pretty hard to answer the question of the amount of under reporting of crimes. If they aren’t reported, it is hard to estimate. Estimating the amount of reporting involves speaking with business owners and employees. What the study found were a few statistics about crime:
- 1 out 4 incidents of robbery with violence is unreported
- 40% of customer theft victims reported the criminal action
- 20% of employee theft victims reported the criminal action
The study showed that the more “serious” the crime, the more likely it was to be reported. No matter what “size” of the crime, it still affects people. Under reporting of crimes can also make criminals more brazen and encourage criminal behavior.
Why Not Report Crime?
We already mentioned one of the biggest reasons that people don’t report being a victim of a crime. The modern atmosphere regarding crime reporting is that it doesn’t do anything, especially after the fact. Understaffed police departments and the large amount of crime make it hard for officers to take on proactive policing.
Another reason that people don’t report crimes is that they do not believe they are serious enough to report after the fact. Shoplifting is a good example of this.
Shoplifting often involves only a small amount of items being taken, and the value being relatively low. It goes beyond people thinking that the crime isn’t serious, they often believe that reporting wouldn’t be appropriate.
Some participants who were part of the study also indicated that they believed that reporting the crime could lead to bad publicity. This is especially true with fraud cases.
According to the study, the most common reasons for not reporting crimes were:
- Reporting did not achieve anything
- Police couldn’t do anything about it
- Incident was not serious
- The chance of success was small
There were a total of 15 reasons why people didn’t not report crimes.
Install Security Companies With Precision Security Australia
Having security cameras on your property can help you to increase the ability of the police to catch and apprehend suspects. It is hard for a suspect to deny that they did it when they are seen on camera committing the crime. Identifying the suspect in the first place is much easier too, as you will have a quality image of them.
Security cameras can often deter crime in the first place just by being present. Criminals see the cameras and would rather go somewhere less protected.
If you are in the greater Melbourne area, the go to company for security camera installation services is Precision Security Australia. With years of experience and a highly trained team, there is no one better out there.
After reading this report you need to think about whether or not you should be reporting crimes. It makes it really hard for the police to do their job if crimes aren’t being reported. It also makes it more likely that criminals will come back. Take steps to end crime at your retail location by contacting Precision Security Australia today.
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