Let’s get our numbers right

Let’s get our numbers right

First published in theSun on 1st January 2014, here.
Tricia Yeoh is the chief operating officer of a local, independent think-tank. She wishes everyone a happy and crime-free 2014. 

THE last week of the year is meant to be a peaceful, reflective one. Mine was anything but. For the second time in 2013, I contributed to the country’s crime statistics by having my personal belongings taken from me (this time, in the not-so-sleepy-town of Malacca).

Anyone who has been a victim of crime would go through the normal steps of feeling shocked, angry and then eventually disappointed with the system that one imagines is meant to protect, and not harm. My experiences have been no different; and it is certainly easy to poke at why the administration has failed to combat crime when these incidents become personal stories that are shared widely on social networks.

Official government statistics, however, seem to indicate a lowering of reported crime. Indexed crime reportedly fell from more than 76,000 cases in the first half of 2012 to over 74,000 cases in the same period of 2013.

But violent crime itself has risen, which includes robbery.

Of course, the real question is how reliable these figures are. Malaysia has stopped providing crime data to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Critics would be quick to point out that statistics can be easily manipulated to suit political needs. Recall, for instance, the startling revelation last year in which a veteran police officer wrote a letter claiming there was a systematic attempt to lower crime statistics by tampering with how crime cases are classified whenever a police report is lodged.

This letter is worth revisiting because it hits the nail on its head, addressing the core of what truly afflicts crime management today: Political interference.

Take, for example, the claim that there were cases where foreigners with work permits were being arrested just to increase statistics, and where suspects in other cases would be shifted around just to “close” a case.

This reminds me of what I consider to be the most brilliant television series to date, The Wire (Season 3), which presents an accurate picture of that sometimes murky relationship between politics and the city police in America’s drug-ridden Baltimore.

In one episode, the police commissioner is under pressure from the city’s mayor to reduce crime rates, in light of an impending election, and instructs his subordinate to lower the felony rate, with a blatant, “I don’t care how you do it”. The weary police major responds by saying there are “processes” he could employ to “reclassify” cases.

This is a fictitious rendition of a city in a different part of the world, but the game-play between this politician seeking a popular mandate and the public administration that does his bidding out of sheer coercion can be easily transplanted into any context, ours included.

What politicians may not realise is that massaging these crime figures can have serious consequences. Falsely depressing numbers give the impression that a certain location is safer than it actually is. Residents are not put on the alert they ought to be. Worse, when reality hits based on personal experiences, there is a growing sense of distrust of the authorities.

Now, I cannot begin to understand the complexities of managing a police force in any comprehensive way. But this one example shows that, perhaps, politicians are making use of “indexed crime” and statistics in a way that disincentivises performance in a real and meaningful way. Perhaps, ironically enough, it is due to the incessant need to deliver numbers that has eroded the police force’s ability to truly tackle crime in a more concerted and effective manner.

And this is where residents like you and me come in. As people who would be the direct beneficiaries of an improved system, we ought to first demand for transparency in information. Having clearly broken-down data as to specific locations in which crimes are taking place, and at what time of the day, would help us be on the alert. This ought to be regularly updated and publicly accessible.

This sort of data is controversial because it highlights hotspot areas, which may in turn place black marks on selected police stations. But this is the best possible way of ensuring accountability. In fact, William J. Bratton (the famed police commissioner of New York City) went on to successfully transform the Los Angeles police department by establishing personal relationships between police officers and residents, and introducing new statistical models to track crime.

There are numerous other factors that contribute to a rising crime rate, chief of which being socio-economic conditions and poor educational backgrounds.

These are macroeconomic factors beyond the control of a police force, but which do fall under the mandate of a government. These must be consistently examined, and the results of Malaysia’s dismal standing in the international PISA rankings are not encouraging either.

But even without elaborating upon the root causes of crime, it is clear that much can and should be done in the way the police force as an institution itself can be better managed. Much has already been written about the recommendation to implement the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. This is not likely to be revisited, given past vehement opposition.

The most basic and practical thing to do is for political leaders to show leadership by publishing accurate data on crime, regardless of whether the numbers have risen or not. The police force ought to also co-operate on this count, which would display goodwill on their part.

Finally, a lot more effort must be put into police-community interactions, either with the help of local councils, neighbourhood committees, Rukun Tetangga, religious groups or otherwise. Armed with the right information, these multi-stakeholder interest groups can then collaborate in the collective effort of managing crime together.

 

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