Statistical records of crime rates probably often reflect as much about the motives and methods of those who compile or cite them as they do about the actual incidence of crime  The police may underreport crime in order to convey the impression of their own success or overreport crime to make the case for a budget increase  Politicians may magnify crime rates to get elected or minimize them to remain in office
Newspapers, of course, often sensationalize crime statistics to increase readership
enumerating problems for which it proposes a general solution