Crime Case Reporting And The Observable Impact On Its Victims

1.2 Statement of the Problem.

Many societies all over the world have had to contend with the consequences of criminal activities, which include lives and properties fear of the unknown, political instability, victimization by conventional criminals, amongst others.(Fayeye, 2010.)

Even though a member of the society reports a crime to a law enforcement officer, it would not be counted unless it is recorded in a way that allows it to be incorporated into the crime statistics, as a consequence, offending particularly minor offending, may be significantly under counted in situations where law enforcement officers are overloaded with work or do not perceive the offending as worth recording. Some crimes reported are not done in a way that the actual event of things is made known. These crimes lack uniformity, which produce obvious difficulties in actually investigating and solving the crimes that are reported. Another causal factor may include the time frame of the crime. A firsthand account is relatively low. For example by the time a robbery case is being reported, the robbers will probably have fled the victims in the hospital, answering police questions if any is around or even in the mortuary.

Certain behavior are labeled deviant which in actual fact may not be, according to the criminal code of that particular society. Members of the society (victims and witnesses), are most times ignorant of criminal laws. When such behaviors are reported, they are more or less unimportant. Crimes known to police (CKP), already certified as reported may not be analyzed as desired by victims of such immoral acts. Charges may be dropped, even when the perpetrator is arrested. Such is the situation when there is lack of evidence. Another popular incidence is the arrest of innocent persons in place of those that actually committed the crimes. This maybe as a result of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Pleading guilty to a crime, lower than that which an offender commits is another major problem. In most cases, it reduces the levity of punishment and sentence becomes inproportionate to the actual crime committed. Also among the problems associated with crime reporting, is the dependency of skills on both the prosecuting counsel and defense counsel, with convictions and acquaintances actually depending on the professional skills of both counsels.

Another problem associated with the procedure of reporting crimes is the inconsistencies involved in information given out by the so-called witnesses, when crimes are being investigated. The illiterate nature of most citizens about the legal and criminal code of its society poses a greater threat. Some just give information about a crime thinking that by doing so; they will be popular, given money for coming forth with’ vital information’. With this, they say or do anything to act as if they were present when the crime occurred. This scenario drastically slows down the process of justice.

1.3   Aims and Objectives. 

The motive behind carrying out this research work is to properly and carefully scrutinize the effect of behavior  contrary to the formal law in the society, on its victims and to achieve the following aims;

- To assess the actual level of crime as against reported crimes.

- To highlight the effect or impact of such reported crimes on their victims. identify

- To make practical suggestions on how to reduce the negative effects of crimes.

- To suggest ways in which criminals are to be punished, for correction.

- To ascertain who exactly can be held responsible for widespread of criminal activities.

1.4 Research Question

- what is the actual level of crime as against reported crimes ?

- what is the effect or impact of such reported crimes on their victims ?

-  what are the ways to reduce the negative effects of crimes ?

- what ways in which criminals are to be punished, for correction ?

- who exactly can be held responsible for widespread of criminal activities.?

1.5   Significance of the Study.

Most importantly, this research work is to contribute to the knowledge of the criminal activities and how they may be reduced or at most eradicated.

It shall also act as a basis for further investigation or scrutinization on crime reporting and the various psychological social effects on its victims.

Lastly, it is an attempt to bring into limelight; some of the errors involved in the process of crime reporting and suggest likely solutions on how to improve these services.

1.6    Scope of Study.

This research work is basically concerned with the major effect of crime reporting on the victims and the impact of proper investigation of criminal activities amongst members of the Lagos metropolitan areas.

For the purpose of accurate and effective research work, the study is restricted to a selected sample, from the entire metropolis, a representative of a fair proportion as a whole.

1.7 Operational Definition of Concepts

This subsection operationalizes the concepts used in the study. This is in compliance with the guideline provided by Patten (2005) that good science starts with good definition and a minimum level of consensus is needed on the definition of what the field is and what it is not. It is therefore equally important to highlight the ones to be used in the study.

1. Crime Victims

Victims are persons who have suffered death, physical or mental anguish, or loss of property as the result of an actual or attempted criminal offence committed by another person (Schmalleger, 2003). However, Black‟s Law dictionary, ninth edition (2009) defines a victim as a person harmed by a crime, tort or other wrong. In this study, a victim is anybody, irrespective of age, sex, ethnicity, creed or nationality, who on the account of not being adequately protected, suffers injury from anybody, regardless of their relationships.

2. Crime Reporting

While Soares (2004) noted that crime reporting is the fraction of the total number of crimes that is actually reported to the police, Goudriaan (2006) observed that crime reporting is notifying the police of a crime that took place. On the other hand, Alemika (2009) noted that people report their experience of criminal victimisation to different agencies, including non-law enforcement agencies depending on what they perceive as the cost of doing so as well as their individual perception of personal gratification from doing so. In this study, therefore, crime reporting is taken to be the deliberate act of notifying the formal or diverse informal structures of crime control about the occurrence of a crime.