Many spatial analysts of crime and offenders choose alternatives to officially recorded police data. Is their choice in this matter justified?

There are two types of data, offender data (police data, self-report studies) and victim data (official crime statistics e.g. British Crime Survey or BCS, victimisation surveys). The data recorded by the police is considered not to be entirely accurate due to the fact that the police have a certain amount of discretion, for example when recording a crime certain police forces may decide not to record a complaint because it is considered to be trivial, not meeting legal requirements, complainants wishes or false reports and as a result crimes may not be recorded thus preventing the police from producing victim related data….(short extract)