It is all in the numbers

From <http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/police-admit-data-blunder-
20111020-1ma9y.html>


Police admit data blunder



Reid Sexton
October 21, 2011.



The submission was criticised by motorcycle advocates.

VICTORIA Police has been forced to admit it provided incorrect
information to a parliamentary inquiry last month, sparking fresh
concerns about the accuracy of its data.

The motorcycle safety inquiry was launched by the Baillieu government to
stem accidents, with motorbike riding soaring in recent years.

The force's submission to the inquiry said front number plates should be
compulsory for motorcycles as too many escaped fines because they could
not be identified.

But the submission was criticised by motorcycle advocates, who
questioned the accuracy of police statistics.

In its submission, the force said 5876 - or 49 per cent - of all
motorcyclists detected speeding by cameras escaped fines because the
driver could not be identified.

But when that number was queried by The Age, a spokeswoman said the
correct number of riders escaping fines was 10,809.

Police provided yet another figure this week when Deputy Commissioner
Kieran Walshe told 3AW that 49 per cent of the 19,131 motorcyclists
caught speeding could not be identified, with 49 per cent of 19,131
being 9374.

On Wednesday, police said the 19,131 figure related to speed and red-
light offences, that there had been only 17,715 speed offences and that
10,809 of those could not be identified, meaning the real number of
motorcyclists escaping fines was 61 per cent.

The bungle comes just months after former chief commissioner Simon
Overland quit when it was found he authorised the release of incorrect
crime statistics.

Victoria Police said it stood by its other statistics and recommendation
on front number plates: ''[The report's] information is accurate and was
validated. In compiling the submission, [some] figures have been
mislabelled.''

But the bungle has been slammed by Victorian Motorcycle Council chairman
Peter Baulch, who said all police accident figures should be peer-
reviewed.

''When a fully researched submission to a parliamentary inquiry is
deemed to be inaccurate from day one, what faith can anyone have in the
rest of their documentation?''


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/police-admit-data-blunder-
20111020-1ma9y.html#ixzz1bLoUP7rE

 

the cops lied, so whats new?