Theft of public property: a criminological and statistical inquiry

The title of the study Theft of Public Property: Criminological and Statistical inquiry in Tanzania appears to be very wide indeed save for its being reduced in order to conform with the author's bias. Therefore this work sets out to examine problems which in the general way concern crime statistics in Tanzania and it shall look at the aspect of crime trends in In socio-criminological inquiry in general, doing through are going to discuss the offence of theft of public property. In which case finally we shall suggest ways of improving crime statistics in general and remedial measures regarding theft of public property in Tanzania. The necessity of this study arises from the fact that determining criminal statistics is very important. It is important because through it we can first, determine the precise volume and trend of crime in society, secondly through it we can institute programmes of social-economic and political development which may succeed in combating crimes generally and theft of public property in particular, and thirdly it is because theft of public property is a serious problem in Tanzania. Therefore this study will enable us to determine the nature and amount of crime and delinquency in Tanzania with a view to formulating programmes of social economic and political development which may help in combating or even succeed in eliminating some types of offences in society. This is an endeavour which is highly desirable and worthwhile. It is well known fact that official crime statistics in most developing countries and Tanzania in particular under-state the amount of crimes committed in their respective societies. The greatest problem being, lack of data. This is occasioned by various factors such as non-reportability of crimes to the police by victims or the public in general. This results in what criminologists have called the "dark figure" of crime which follows in the partial inaccuracy of the official crime statistics. Theft of public property is a thorny issue in Tanzanian socio-economic and political development. However what is worth-noting is that, there is scanty literature and books touching generally on the problem. And particularly no inquiry of this nature has been done in Tanzania. The government has enacted various laws since independence to combat crimes generally and theft of public property in particular. However it will be noted that, theft of public property has continued to rise steadily in Tanzania. It is therefore the intention of this study to examine the problem of crime statistics in general and especially with regard to theft of public property. An Attempt is also made to look at the causes of theft of public property. The study will proceed to suggest the remedial measures which may be employed in combating crimes generally and particularly theft of public property. Finally it has been contended in this study that, unlike other crimes theft of public property is a result of the existing material conditions in society. Therefore any attempt in solving the problem of criminal behaviour, and theft of public property in particular has to be examined in the light of the existing socio-economic set-up in society.