How to understand the NCRB’s “Crime in India” report’s components and findings

 On August 29, a new edition of ‘Crime in India,’ the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), was published for crime-related statistics in 2021. Over the years, NCRB reports have been a valuable compilation of statistics on offenses ranging from crimes against women to economic and financial crimes.

Overall, the number of crimes registered in 2021 was 7.6 percent lower than in 2020. The crime rate per 100,000 people fell from 487.8 in 2020 to 445.9 in 2021. However, crime statistics do not always tell the whole story, and lower crime rates in a given area do not always imply safety.

Who is responsible for the publication of the NCRB report?

The NCRB was founded in January 1986 with the intention of creating a body to gather and maintain crime-related data. The Union Home Ministry is in charge of it. “Collection, coordination, and exchange of information on interstate and international criminals to the respective states” is one of its duties in addition to the publication of annual reports.

Additionally, NCRB serves as a “national warehouse” for criminals from India and other countries and aids in locating interstate criminals using fingerprint searches.

What methods does the NCRB use to gather data for its

report?

The NCRB report includes information gathered from all 36 states and Union Territories in the nation. The respective state-level crime records bureaus provide comparable information for 53 metropolitan areas, or those with a population of more than 10 lakh as of the 2011 census.
State/UT police enter this data at the police station or district level, where it is then further verified, first at the district level, then at the state level, and finally by the NCRB.

How should one interpret the NCRB report?

The NCRB acknowledges that some of its data has limitations. One reason is that “the actual count of each crime head may be under reported” because the publication adheres to the “Principal Offence Rule” for classifying crimes.

According to the Principal Offence Rule, if multiple offenses are registered, only the “most heinous crime” that carries the harshest punishment will be taken into account when counting. For instance, the crime of rape is undercounted when “Murder with Rape” is recorded as “Murder.” Additionally, since the report only gathers information submitted at the local level, any inaccuracies or gaps there have an effect.

Additionally, rather than capturing actual crime, the data tracks the incidence of registered crime. Therefore, rather than an actual rise in the incidence of crime against women, it’s possible that the significant increase in reported crimes against women in Delhi following the 2012 bus gangrape case was a result of increased awareness of the need to report crimes among those affected and the police.

The NCRB notes that “increase in crime numbers in a state police data may in fact be on account of certain citizen-centric police initiatives, like the launch of e-FIR facility or women helpdesks, etc. “Rise in crime” and “increase in registration of crime by police” are clearly two different things, a fact that requires better understanding.

Additionally, a “crime rate” is computed per unit of population because actual numbers will generally be higher for the larger states. However, the information currently used for calculating the total population is outdated and comes from the 2011 Census