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06/06/2012
Report Says Victims Of Crime Should Be Able To 'Track Progress' Online
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has said that victims of crime in England and Wales should be able to track their case online from the moment it is reported to the point when justice is served.
The thinktank recommends that police forces should develop crime-tracking applications so that people can follow their cases through the system.
The IPPR found that not knowing what was happening in a case was a key cause of frustration for victims and undermined their confidence in the criminal justice system.
It is calling for details on the progress of cases, including arrests, investigations, judgments and transcripts, to be published online by the police, courts and the Crown Prosecution Service, as long as it is legally safe to do so.
They also recommended that online "crime maps" should be made interactive and display real-time information, which could help prevent and reduce crime.
It praised a pioneering website called TrackMyCrime, set up in March last year by Avon and Somerset police to allow victims of crime to follow online the progress of the investigation of their crime as well as contact the officer leading the investigation.
"The effectiveness of the criminal justice system depends crucially on the public's confidence in it,” the report states.
"Given that so much of that confidence is linked to information and communication technology, this potentially enables us to develop a more transparent, accessible and responsive criminal justice system with victims at its heart."
(H)
The thinktank recommends that police forces should develop crime-tracking applications so that people can follow their cases through the system.
The IPPR found that not knowing what was happening in a case was a key cause of frustration for victims and undermined their confidence in the criminal justice system.
It is calling for details on the progress of cases, including arrests, investigations, judgments and transcripts, to be published online by the police, courts and the Crown Prosecution Service, as long as it is legally safe to do so.
They also recommended that online "crime maps" should be made interactive and display real-time information, which could help prevent and reduce crime.
It praised a pioneering website called TrackMyCrime, set up in March last year by Avon and Somerset police to allow victims of crime to follow online the progress of the investigation of their crime as well as contact the officer leading the investigation.
"The effectiveness of the criminal justice system depends crucially on the public's confidence in it,” the report states.
"Given that so much of that confidence is linked to information and communication technology, this potentially enables us to develop a more transparent, accessible and responsive criminal justice system with victims at its heart."
(H)
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Responding to the publication today of Streets Ahead, the joint inspectorate report on the Street Crime Initiative, the Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "The Street Crime Initiative is an outstanding success. The results speak for themselves - robbery cut by 17 per cent in the ten street crime areas, meaning 17,000 fewer victims.
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