Connections to please 200
In answer to critics who claim that people no longer have faith in the police to the point where they simply do not report crimes - hence the falls in recorded crime throughout the UK - Mr Orr robustly suggests that that is nonsense, writes James Freeman.
In his own force area, independent research has shown public confidence in and satisfaction with the police at an all-time high.
''If you take such difficult areas as race crime, indecency crimes, or domestic violence, you will see a clear and substantial rise in reports from the public. The reason for this is that we have created a changed climate where people now have confidence enough to come forward and report these crimes because they know that we will take action. We have made huge strides with the women's safety issue and women are coming forward in large numbers.
''Similarly, with crimes of indecency people are coming forward sometimes after decades to report crimes committed against them.''
While Home Office bulletins on crime (covering only England and Wales) warn that a large proportion of crime is unrecorded, the British Crime Survey, the source of this ''iceberg'' effect, pointed out that this unreported portion tended to involve only minor crimes.
Reporting is standardised and scrutinised by the Scottish Office. Quite simply if a crime is not reported then that is one fewer crime recorded. There is far more evidence to suggest that fewer crimes are actually being committed than evidence to back up claims that there is some vast, orchestrated conspiracy to misrepresent crime statistics.
The latest English figures suggest that vehicle crime fell by 14% last year - falling in all but one force area - and that domestic burglary (housebreaking in Scotland) fell in 41 of the 43 force areas by a national figure of 14%. Robberies - mainly muggings - fell by 13% nationally.
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