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Modernization and Advances in Crime Measurement and Crime Classification in India: A Critical Review

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Crime, Criminal Justice, and the Evolving Science of Criminology in South Asia

Abstract

This chapter makes a critical review of crime classification and crime measurement methods in India in comparison to those of the USA, Canada, and England and Wales. In India, crime measurement is predominantly based on police-recorded crime statistics measured by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Police-recorded crimes, however, are inherently limited because most of the crimes are not reported to the police. In the USA, Canada, and England and Wales many innovations in crime measurement have recently been made to overcome the limitations of police-recorded crimes. Some of those more innovative and improved methods of crime measurement include the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the National Incidence-Based Reporting (NIBRS) system of the USA, Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), General Social Survey (GSS) of Canada, European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS), and the International Crime Victimization Survey (ICVS) conducted by an ICVS International Working Group. For further modernization in crime classification and crime measurement in India, police-recorded crime statistics should be supplemented with systems that can measure criminal victimization and self-reported crime data.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cognizable crimes are the serious violent and property crimes in which the police have the power of arrest without an arrest warrant. Cognizable crimes, as defined by the criminal procedure code in India, are similar to a felony, or arrestable crimes in different common law countries. The distinction between cognizable and non-cognizable offenses has its roots in the common law tradition where the offenses were classified as felony and non-felony or misdemeanor. In the UK, the felony offenses were renamed as arrestable offenses in 1967, and subsequently, the concept was abolished in 2005. Currently, the police in the UK can make an arrest in any crime if they think that an arrest is necessary. In the USA, although the distinction between felony and misdemeanor exists, the recording of crime or arrest decision is not based on it. Every reported and discovered crime is recorded and the police are required to make an arrest if there is a probable cause. In India, however, the classification of crime between cognizable and non-cognizable greatly influences the recording and arrest. Mandatory recording of crime incidents is recommended for only cognizable crimes (Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U. P. and Ors 2013), therefore, the recording of non-cognizable crimes is even more problematic in India and may be a big contributor to the dark figure of crime.

  2. 2.

    Based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission, the government of India helped states and union territories to establish State Crime Record Bureaus and District Crime Record Bureaus.

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Acknowledgment

Some materials included in this chapter are borrowed from the author’s journal article (Crime Rates in India: A Trend Analyses, published in the International Criminal Justice Review).

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  1. Department of Criminal Justice, Salem State University, Salem, USA

    Sami Ansari

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  1. Sami Ansari
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  1. Sociology and Criminal Justice, Hampton University, Hampton, VA, USA

    Shahid M. Shahidullah

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Ansari, S. (2017). Modernization and Advances in Crime Measurement and Crime Classification in India: A Critical Review. In: Shahidullah, S.M. (eds) Crime, Criminal Justice, and the Evolving Science of Criminology in South Asia. Palgrave Advances in Criminology and Criminal Justice in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50750-1_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50750-1_4

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