Offence coding
This webpage gives an overview of offence coding as part of the New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey (NZCASS).
- What is offence coding and why do we do it?
- How are offences coded?
- What offences are collected and coded in the NZCASS?
What is offence coding and why do we do it?
The NZCASS does not ask survey respondents directly about crimes that happened to them, such as ‘Have you been burgled?’ This is because people don’t always know what is legally considered a crime and what isn’t. Legal experts code information collected about an incident (‘offence coding’) to decide whether or not the incident was a crime and what type of crime.
How are offences coded?
The legal experts decide on offence codes using the answers from the victim forms, which include a short description in the respondent’s own words (except for sexual offences). The experts also use answers to other questions throughout the questionnaire.
One NZCASS research objective is to compare the level of reported crime with Police statistics. As such, it’s important that offence coding for NZCASS mirrors the way Police record offences as closely as possible. An exact match with Police recording practice is unlikely given that:
- different police officers may make different judgments when deciding:
- whether to record an incident as an offence
- which category it should be placed in
- Police continuously review and refine recording rules, which means some changes to practice have occurred between surveys.
As a general principle, offences in the NZCASS are coded in line with:
- current legal theory
- current Police recording procedures.
In most cases, these two requirements will be met and there will be no conflict (this means Police recording practice will be in line with the legal theory and definitions).
What offences are collected and coded in the NZCASS?
| Offence |
Code
|
Not counted
|
|---|---|---|
| Sexual violation of women |
01
|
|
| Sexual violation of men |
02
|
|
| Incest |
03
|
•
|
| Indecent assault |
04
|
|
| Indecent exposure |
05
|
•
|
| Grievous assaults |
06
|
|
| Other assaults |
07
|
|
| Abduction/kidnapping |
08
|
|
| Robbery |
09
|
|
| Theft from person |
10
|
|
| Burglary (old definition) |
11
|
|
| Burglary (new definition) |
41
|
|
| Theft from inside home (right to be there) |
12
|
|
| Theft from outside the home (over $10) |
13
|
|
| Taking/conversion motor vehicle |
14
|
|
| Unlawful interference/getting into motor vehicle |
15
|
|
| Theft from motor vehicles |
16
|
|
| Taking/conversion/unlawful interference with bicycle |
17
|
|
| General theft of personal property |
18
|
|
| Arson |
19
|
|
| Wilful damage to household property |
27
|
|
| Wilful damage to personal property |
28
|
|
| Threatening to kill/assault/threatening behaviour |
21
|
|
| Threatening to damage property |
29
|
|
| Extortion/blackmail |
22
|
•
|
| Unlawfully in building (no clear intention to commit offence) |
23
|
•
|
| Peeping Toms, lurking etc |
24
|
•
|
| Fraud |
25
|
•
|
| Damage to motor vehicles |
26
|
|
| In scope, but not able to tell which offence |
85
|
•
|
| Not an offence |
86
|
•
|
| Offence not in scope |
87
|
•
|
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