ABSTRACT
In the next two chapters, we turn consider the crimes, misdemeanours and disturbances dealt with by the police over the period, and the manner in which they did so. No judgement will be made about how far the official statistics reflect a ‘real’ as opposed to a manufactured rate for any particular offence since, as we have seen, the foundations on which the statistics rest are too shaky to be relied on for a picture of the ‘objective’ truth. Rather than attempting the futile task of trying to disentangle the real from the manufactured, it seems more fruitful to concentrate on police perceptions and responses to trends in the offence rate. This is at least as important an influence on the statistics, if not more important, than the actual number of offences committed.
