DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.179255.1 ISSN: 2046-1402

Associations between offense categories and police recorded crime patterns across Peruvian departments

Rafael Romero-Carazas, Fabrizio Del Carpio-Delgado, Roque Juan Espinoza-Casco, David Hugo Bernedo-Moreira, Wilter C. Morales-García, Renza Adriana Alexandra Rodríguez-Asto, Lorena Karolay Quiñones-Ormeño
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Introduction Police-recorded crime statistics are widely used to describe public safety conditions and territorial patterns of criminal activity, yet they primarily reflect administrative processes and offense composition rather than underlying criminal behavior. This study aimed to analyze the explanatory contribution of major offense categories to the total number of police-recorded crime reports across Peruvian departments. Methodology the study adopts a cross-sectional design and applies descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models to assess the statistical associations between major offense categories and the total volume of police-recorded crimes across Peruvian departments. The analysis draws on records corresponding to the first quarter of 2024 and focuses on aggregated departmental-level data. Result The results indicate that crimes against property constitute the dominant component of police-recorded crime nationwide and are significantly associated with total recorded crime volumes, while other offense categories display weaker or non-significant associations. Conclusion interdepartmental variation in police-recorded crime in Peru is primarily shaped by the internal composition of offense categories embedded in administrative data, reflecting structural and institutional regularities rather than causal determinants or individual reporting behavior.

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