More nonsense

Riots? 
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What riots? 
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As far as the authorities are concerned, this summer's disturbances were not only socially aberrant but also statistically so. 
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As a consequence, they are being airbrushed out of the local crime maps launched with much fanfare as a boost to police accountability.
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Leaving aside quibbles about the potential hit to house prices.
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Online crime maps have much to recommend them. 
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But they are valuable only as far as the data behind them is an accurate reflection of reality. 
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If only. 
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The crime figures for August recorded on the www.police.uk website give barely a hint of the fact that the worst rioting for decades was sweeping through many British cities.
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The map for Reeves Corner, in Croydon, for example – where arson destroyed a 140-year-old furniture shop and surrounding businesses.
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Records just one more crime in August than in July. 
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In the St Ann's area of Nottingham – where youths went on the rampage, setting light to cars and firebombing a police station.
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The number of crimes reportedly fell. 
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Even in Tottenham High Road, the epicentre of disturbances that raged unchecked for several days, crime levels rose to just 149. 
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To anyone who watched the disorder and devastation on the news each night in early August, such figures seem laughable.
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There are two explanations for the striking disconnect with reality. 
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One is a technical issue. 
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The crime numbers are traditionally put together on a per-victim basis.
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So mass looting of a branch of JD Sports, for example, only counts as a single crime. 
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The second defence is that the sudden surge of criminal activity plays havoc with attempts to put together general crime trends.
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Not only skewing this year's headline numbers with a one-off event.
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But also setting up false comparators with a hopefully riot-free 2012.
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But these are the arguments of the statistician rather than those of the local resident looking for a snapshot of crime levels in their area. 
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The riots may have been anomalous
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But they nonetheless still occurred. 
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To make believe that they did not.
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Even in order to conform with historical data-gathering rules.
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Is not helping anyone. 
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Least of all police and politicians with a much-vaunted "transparency agenda".
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This is just another example of officialdom doing what it wants
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Removing the riots from history because they want to is how Britain is really run.

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Not for or by the people.
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But for the convenience and wishes of those in power.