Victims of offences reported to the police, 2015-2016

National level and county level.

Annual statistics. Normally published in the second quarter after the statistics year.

Not relevant. Few countries have statistics on victims based on offences reported to the police. Therefore, there is little demand for these statistics from the international agencies that Statistics Norway normally reports crime statistics to.

Collected and revised data are stored in accordance with Statistics Norway’s standard for file storing (see Datadok): Raw data files and catalogues are kept as they were received from the Norwegian Police ICT Services (PIT). Files where the processing is complete, where they are ready and can be used for statistics production, are stored as both flat text files and SAS files, and documented in accordance with Statistics Norway’s prevailing requirements. All SAS files used in the processing and table production of the individual year are stored, and can thus be documented and reproduced.

Statistics Norway has in the past, in connection with an analysis project, published statistics on offences reported to the police (1995-1998) with information on victims ( Gundersen 2000 , in Norwegian only). However, these two sets of statistics are not directly comparable due to considerable differences in the data basis, processing and definitions of statistical units. The statistics on victims 2004 are therefore regarded as new statistics from Statistics Norway. Statistics on victims of offences reported to the police have been developed and produced under commission by the Ministry of Justice and the Police. The production of statistics based on data for previous statistical years was considered, but has not been carried out for reasons of quality. As from 2009, new variables and regional statistics have been added to the statistics (see Definitions and Comparability over time and space under Background).

The purpose of this project is to map who is exposed to offences and who reports offences to the police, by different demographic background variables and type of offence. By mapping victims and reporters of offences, we wish to form a better basis for describing crime, and simultaneously obtain a wider understanding of the judicial system. Offences that include violations of persons are of special interest and have the best quality of data, and the statistics therefore place a particular focus on these victims and the types of offences they are subjected to.

The statistics are now released with breakdowns of different types of offences which in principle are grouped in the same way as in the penal legislation, and are considered as a Standard of types of offences. Mainly, the standard corresponds to the divisions and terms in the current penal legislation, and classifies all offences included in the penal legislation and the special legislation (see Standard for types of offences in KLASS). From the year 2015 and onwards, the statistics is released with a new version of Standard for types of offences: Types of offences 2015, which is made as a consequence of the Penal Code of 2005 and the corresponding new codes for registering offences in all of the registers relevant to Statistics Norway’s crime statistics. The new standard replaces Standard for types of offences 2006. New breakdowns of offences are for certain tables in the StatBank made available with numbers dating back to 2003.

The principle division between crimes and misdemeanours has been discontinued in new Penal Code of 2005. Thus, from 2015 and onwards, this division is discontinued also in the statistics on offences reported to the police.

Important users are different departments within the judicial system and others working in relation to victims, several government ministries, academic environments such as criminology, the research and education sector, parliament (Storting) and the media. The statistics also serve as a basis for information to anyone else interested in the state and development within the field of crime.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of the most important Principles for Equal treatment of users in releasing statistics and analyses.

Victims of offences reported to the police are statistics under the subject Crime and the justice . Other annual statistics are Offences reported to the police , Offences investigated , Sanctions and Imprisonments . When using more than one set of crime statistics, it is important to be aware that the various parts do not necessarily refer to the same population of offences or persons. The investigation of an offence may be completed or a sanction given in another year than it was reported to the police. For an overall presentation of the crime statistics, see the publication Kriminalitet og rettsvesen 2009 (in Norwegian only).

Statistics on victims of offences reported to the police are an important supplement to the periodical mapping of exposure to and fear of crime in Survey of level of living, victimization and fear of crime and other surveys of victims (for example Ellingsen 2010, in Norwegian only).

The Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs investigates cases where employees of the police or prosecuting authority are suspected of committing criminal offences in the course of duty. Offences which are investigated and completed by the Bureau without further prosecution or court proceedings are not included in the data basis for the statistics on offences reported to the police, victims of offences reported to the police and offences investigated. However, when such cases result in a sanction registered in the Criminal Record Register, they will be included in the statistics on sanctions. Furthermore, such cases are included in the statistics on imprisonments in the same manner as other criminal cases. A closer look at the offences registered by the Bureau in 2016 show that the vast majority of cases concern different types of misconduct and misuse of public authority (which in Statistics Norway’s crime statistics are classified as part of the group of offence Public order and integrity violations). The Bureau also investigates several other types of offences, including offences of violence and traffic offences.

The Bureau is an independent body, and is not organised as part of the police. The Bureau is administratively under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and professionally under the Director of Public Prosecutions (which also functions as the body of appeal for cases where prosecution is dropped and other types of prosecution decisions made by the Bureau). In their annual reports, the Bureau publishes statistics on offences reported and investigated over the course of the year.

Other related statistics from Statistics Norway are statistics on Causes of death (taken over by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health from the statistical year 2013) and statistics on Road traffic accidents involving personal injury . Murder statistics from KRIPOS (in Norwegian only) also include statistics on victims, but are arranged in a system based on a different definition of the sample (including year of crime and not registration). In some connections, users will be recommended to use the murder statistics from Kripos rather than the data on murder that now appears in Statistics Norway’s more general statistics on victims. For the statistical year 2006 and beyond, Statistics Norway has carried out a review and audit of all murder cases in relation to both the processing of reported offences and victims of offences reported to the police. Subsequent to these audits, the number of murders and victims, including demographic data, is approximately the same in the statistics from Kripos and Statistics Norway.

Statistics Act §§ 2-1, 2-2, 3-2 (forms/registers).

Not relevant

The statistics cover everyone with the role of "victim" in all reported offences registered in the course of the statistical year. Each registered offence normally constitutes one unit in the material. Where the report includes more than one offence, all matters that can constitute a separate point in the charge/indictment are registered. The number and type of reported offences in the statistics on victims should be identical to the number and type in the statistics on Offences reported to the police in the same year. Where an offence entails several different victims, all of them are retained for statistical purposes.

The statistics provide information on the type, number and scene of crime of the offences, as well as information on the type of victim and the victim’s sex, age and place of residence (see description of main concepts and variables under Definitions). The statistics do not include violations of the Road Traffic Act and the Customs Act where the sanction is an on the spot fine (see statistics on Sanctions ).

The extraction is taken from the police analysis and leadership system (PAL), which covers all registered offences in the police districts in Norway, special agencies and higher prosecution authorities. The Norwegian Police ICT Services (PIT) is responsible for the output of the data. The data basis is the same as for statistics on offences reported to the police. In addition, data from the Central Population Register is used in the processing of the statistics (see Population statistics ). The Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs investigates cases where employees of the police or prosecuting authority are suspected of committing criminal offences in the course of duty. The Bureau registers cases in a separate registry version of BL/STRASAK/PAL, and these cases are not included in the data basis for the statistics on victims of offences reported to the police (see Coherence with other statistics under Production).

See Population, Collection of data revision and estimations, Confidentiality, Comparability over time and space, and About the statistics for Offences reported to the police .

The statistics are based on information from the central police registration system (BL/STRASAK/PAL), which contains all registered reports. Registration is initially made in a local database system (BL), after which the information is transferred to the central databases STRASAK/PAL. STRASAK/PAL is centrally updated the day after local registration in BL. Completing information on single cases in BL/STRASAK/PAL is carried out in the police and prosecution authorities’ own administrative registration system. Collecting data from STRASAK/PAL is carried out by the Norwegian Police ICT Services (PIT). The extraction from PAL is normally made about two weeks after the end of the statistical year.

The police registration systems include some validity controls of data. In addition, Statistics Norway performs its own controls and revisions of the material. For example: if there is insufficient information on which municipality the crime is committed in, other information from the register about the scene of crime is used. Duplicated (double entries) offences and victims are deleted, illogical valid values (for example dates) are revised or deleted. Data on individual cases, with a view to rectifying relatively extensive or major errors and omissions in the data basis, are in some cases retrieved from the Norwegian Police ICT Services (PIT), the police district or the National Bureau of Crime Investigation (Kripos). Since 2006, all murder cases have been controlled and revised (case by case) against information from Kripos and register data from the PIT. All identifiable persons (based on date of birth, personal ID number and/or name) are supplemented with information from Statistics Norway’s population files.

The police's validity controls and processing routines at Statistics Norway are further developed as required, and are aimed at continually improving the data material and the statistics to be published.

In the statistics, four units are included based on the data from the police registers (for a full description of concepts, variables and classifications, see Definitions):

• The number of offences reported to the police including characteristics given, such as type of victim and group of offence (see statistics on Offences reported  to the police ).
• The number of unique victims (persons) registered as a victim of one or more offences during the year, and the number of these persons with different characteristics, such as age, place of residence and number of offences they have been subjected to. For victims subjected to more than one offence during the year, the principal offence is attributed based on an approximate indicator on the basis of the minimum and maximum sentences, as well as other criminal procedure characteristics of the offence.
• The number of unique victims of violence and maltreatment, and the number of these victims with different characteristics, such as age. For victims subjected to more than one incicent of violence and maltreatment during the year, the principal offence is used (as for victim above).
• The number of unique victims of property theft, and the number of these persons with different characteristics, such as age. For victims subjected to more than one property theft during the year, the principal offence is used (as for victim above).

In addition, calculations of percentages and rates per 1 000 inhabitants are made (also for different ages, genders and regions). All rates per 1 000 inhabitants are calculated with figures for the population as of 1 January in the statistics year (see the population statistics . As a general rule, age is calculated based on date of birth and the date the offence was committed (see Definitions of the main concepts and variables under Definitions).

Not relevant

The statistics contain personal data and information on punishable offences that is considered to be highly sensitive - and are managed by Statistics Norway accordingly. In the data basis used for statistical purposes, all information collected solely for processing purposes is deleted (e.g. name).

The data basis is adapted for one specific statistical purpose, and individual inquiries about use of data for other purposes are considered in relation to this. Data basis or crime statistics that are not published by Statistics Norway may be supplied. This type of assignment, however, has a limited scope, and confidentiality and data quality requirements must be met.

The statistics are only published at a higher regional level (most often the whole country), and when classified at lower levels (county) the offences are only published in larger categories – e.g. by offence (group of offence) or age (ten-year). It is not therefore necessary to mark cells with few units on account of anonymity (as for other crime statistics published using the same principles). When releasing statistics with few units, the protection of privacy is, however, considered on a case by case basis.

The share of offences with information about victims varies somewhat in the different police districts and counties. This can be connected to varying registration practices in the different police districts, and will have a bearing on the comparability between counties with regard to place of residence or scene of crime.

The statistics on victims of offences reported to the police in 2004 is first volume. Statistics Norway intend, however, to publish annual statistics on victims of offences that in the future will be comparable over time and place. Some minor changes have taken place since 2004:

Changes to legislation that affect the content of the statistics directly and considerably shall, as far as Statistics Norway is aware of such changes, be highlighted in the tables in the years where such changes have taken place – and where this is relevant to corresponding statistics over time. For examples of this, see Victims of offences reported to the police, 2006 for the new provisions on ill treatment in family relations.

Since the statistics year 2006, all murder cases have been controlled and examined (case by case) against information from Kripos and register data from the Norwegian Police ICT Services (PIT). The murder figures are therefore somewhat lower than previous years, and the information on the murder victims more correct (see Coherence with other statistics under Background).

As from the statistics year 2009, the statistics contain the victims’ place of residence distributed by size of municipality and centrality, as well as exposure in or outside the municipality of residence (see Definitions of the main concepts and variables under Definitions).

Many regional standards are very stable over time, but reclassifications of these are also made – which in some cases is the determining factor for the content of the statistics. These can be either directly visible changes, which will appear in the statistics with a marked time break, or changes in the annual versions of standards that are not immediately apparent from the content of the individual tables. Changes in regional standards that are not directly visible are made when, for instance, a municipality changes county, when two municipalities merge or when the population in a municipality changes to such an extent that a different classification or size of municipality is required (see Definitions).

Introduction of the new penal code on 1 October 2015

After the new penal code (Penal Code of 2005) came into effect on 1 October 2015, the raw data from the police registers are changed. There are quite distinct differences in structure, language and content between the Penal Code of 1902 and the Penal Code of 2005, which is even more evident in the corresponding codes used for registering offences in the police’ central registration system. Code connected to both the new and the former penal code is used after 1 October 2015, due to the new legislation not having retroactive effect. Offences may be registered and processed long after they have been committed. This means that the Penal Code of 1902 and 2005 will appear in the data of all crime statistics for many years to come.

Criminal cases with violations of the provisions dating before the introduction of the new penal code (registered by former codes and appellation), will not always be possible to specify and classify in the same way as criminal cases with a violation of a corresponding provision from the Penal Code of 2005. Certain types of offences in Standard for types of offences 2015 will therefore exclusively contain violations of offences stemming from new penal legislation, and mainly consist of offences committed after 1 October 2015. In the standard, these will be indicated with “(from 1.10.2015)” in the classification name. Older offences which cannot be specified in the same way are placed in “other or unspecified” types of offences. The content of the statistics – and the possibilities of doing comparisons on the most detailed levels of the standard – will for certain types of offences therefore be mainly based on offences committed after 1.10.2015. This type of break in the time series will vary over time for the different types of offences, depending on which crime statistics you use. When such breaks in the time series are identified, the general recommendation is to use figures on a more aggregated level, which means less specified figures with a smaller degree of time series break. Se Standard for type of offences 2015.

For a detailed presentation of the new penal code, see the article “The new crime statistics” (in Norwegian only).