dark figure

plural dark figures

1. criminologyThe estimated number of unreported criminal cases.

   By definition, they ignore the unreported “dark figure” of crime. We turn now to a second source of official crime data.

   2000, Piers Beirne, James W. Messerschmidt, Criminology

   3 more examples

   In exploring the dark figure of crime, the primary question is not how much of it becomes revealed but rather what will be the selective properties of any particular innovation for its illumination.

   1977, US Congressional House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Suspension of the National Crime Survey, page 15

   The dark figure concerning these criminal offences, is very high and the attitude towards reporting such cases is not constant.

   1992, Hisao Katoh, Louise I. Shelley, Hisao Katō, Hans-Günther Heiland, Crime and Control in Comparative Perspectives, Walter de Gruyter, page 49

   Arguing that the dark figure is larger, perhaps very large (“The cases we know about are just the tip of the iceberg!”), makes any estimate seem possible, even reasonable.

   2012, Joel Best, Damned Lies and Statistics […] , University of California Press, →ISBN, page 37