Crime Reporting in Sweden

Abstract

In this chapter, a number of factors are highlighted that affect the reliability of crime statistics. The quality of crime statistics is affected, among other things, by police officers manipulating statistics to give the impression that the business works better than it actually does. The difficulty of using crime statistics to make comparisons depends on a number of other actors. Several of these factors are addressed in this chapter. The chapter shows that it is difficult to draw conclusions about crime levels and crime development in the Swedish context, but also in terms of making comparisons between different countries. These comparisons are based on crime statistics generated with the help of information communication technology (ICT). In Sweden, there is a special organization that provides crime statistics and comments on the development of crime. This organization is considered an advantage.