Under-Reporting Of Crime Against Small Businesses: Attitudes Toward Police And Reporting Practices

Abstract

Crime surveys of businesses have revealed that while crimes such as burglary and robbery tend to be reported to police, other crimes such as employee theft, credit card fraud and customer theft are likely to go unreported to police. Understanding why some crimes are reported and others are not is essential to encouraging business proprietors to report crime, which in turn is essential for improving the accuracy of police crime data. Data from a survey conducted with Australian small businesses found that while almost all burglaries and robberies were reported to police, incidents of employee theft, customer theft and cheque/credit card fraud were likely to go unreported. One of the most common reasons reflected a pessimistic belief that reporting crime was pointless and achieved nothing. It is argued that while reasons for non-reporting vary, there is much the police can do to increase the willingness of business owners to report crime and these avenues should be pursued.