Publications

Under-reporting of crime against small businesses : attitudes toward police and reporting practices

Natalie Taylor

Published in:
Policing and society, 13(1), March 2003.

Abstract

Data from the Small Business Crime Survey (1999) show that while almost all burglaries and robberies committed against small businesses were reported to police, incidents of employee theft, customer theft and cheque / credit card fraud were likely to go unreported. This paper discusses the reasons given for non reporting and the degree of satisfaction with the police response after reporting crime, and argues that demonstrated respect for victims by police is likely to result in greater satisfaction with the investigation and conduct of the police, regardless of the outcome of reporting. One of the most common reasons for non reporting reflected a pessimistic belief that reporting crime was pointless and achieved nothing; however the paper argues that while reasons for non reporting vary, there is much the police can do to increase the willingness of business owners to report crime and these avenues should be pursued.