Fra "Arbeidsmengde" til "Resultat": Oslo-politiets egen presentasjon av kriminalstatistikk 1950-2008

Abstract

In this article, I analyse the presentation of crime statistics in the annual reports of the Oslo Police from 1950 to 2008. During this period, data on reported crime have been presented in various ways under different social, political and ideolo-gical circumstances. In the first decades, the police were reluctant to identify causes and suggest solutions to the increasing crime rate. The crime rate was se-en as having a life of its own, i.e., independent of the police and policing activi-ties. Later on, the police gradually attached themselves to the crime rate by ex-plaining increases and decreases as a direct result of policing activities. This new narrative reduces the scope of crime policy initiatives as other factors that influ-ence the crime rate become invisible.