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?

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).

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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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