Data showing fall in Peterborough crime claim ‘is not accurate’

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the data last week, which said crime in the city was down by 16 per cent in the year ending September 2019.

The figures also revealed a number of crime categories , including violence, burglary and sexual offences, had seen a drop over the 12 months.

However, the ONS has now confirmed the data for the county is not correct, with Peterborough and South Cambridgeshire most affected.

A spokesman for the ONS said: “Figures for Cambridgeshire may change in subsequent quarters due to administrative issues on how cancelled records are being counted. This is not uncommon. The recorded crime figures are a by-product of a live administrative system that is continually being updated with incidents that are logged as crimes and subsequently investigated. Some incidents initially recorded as crime may on further investigation be found not to be a crime (described as “cancelled records”). Some offences may change category, for example, from theft to robbery.”

The spokesman added: “This does not mean that the figures previously published were inaccurate at the time that they were reported. The size of these revisions tend to be small and it is our policy not to revise previously published recorded crime figures unless they arise from a genuine error.”

When the figures were released, residents commented on social media that the fall in recorded crime was due to people losing confidence in the force. Acting Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Police and Crime Commissioner Ray Bisby said: “The latest data in the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows 55.9% of survey respondents in Cambridgeshire agreed that the police were dealing with local concerns, and 76.3% had confidence in local police. These are both higher than the national average.”

As a result of the error in the statistics, Cambridgeshire police did not comment on the figures.