Methodology & Notes
Data source, collection methodology, analytical approach, known limitations, and citation guidance for the Botswana Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024. Every dataset has limitations — understanding them is part of understanding the findings. Reading this page before drawing policy conclusions is strongly recommended.
An Independent Analytical Publication
This publication — Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024 — is produced by Data 123 as part of the open intelligence series at insights.data123.online. It is an independent analytical publication based entirely on data released by the Botswana Police Service in their official Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024.
Data 123 did not collect, verify, or audit the underlying crime data. All figures in this publication are drawn directly and exclusively from BPS source tables. Data 123's contribution is the extraction, structuring, visualisation, and analytical commentary — not the primary data itself.
Botswana Police Service — Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024
The BPS Annual Crime Statistics Report is an official government publication produced annually under the Police Sector Statistics Plan. It has been published consistently for over eight years and represents the authoritative source of crime data for Botswana.
Why This Publication Ends at 2024
The Botswana Police Service publishes two distinct documents on its official website: the BPS Annual Report — a corporate report covering the organisation's operations, of which the latest edition covers 2025 — and the Annual Crime Statistics Report, the detailed statistical release that powers this dashboard.
The Annual Crime Statistics Report is currently available for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024. The 2024 edition is therefore the most recent official crime statistics release that exists — this publication is not out of date; it reflects the latest data the Botswana Police Service has published.
"Data Last Updated" vs Data Vintage
The "Data last updated" timestamp at the bottom of this page reflects when our data warehouse was last refreshed — not the reference period of the underlying statistics, which remains 2024 until the BPS releases its next Annual Crime Statistics Report. To be notified when the 2025 data goes live, contact info@data123.online.
From Case Docket to Annual Report
Primary data is collected by the Botswana Police Service from victims and perpetrators using the Case Docket system. Data from completed Case Dockets is transferred to the Crime Register, where updates are made regularly as investigations progress.
Penal Code Offences — 73.5% of Recorded Crime
Crimes defined under the Botswana Penal Code (Cap. 08:01) — 107,757 cases in 2024. The Penal Code is organised into ten categories covering offences against persons, property, public order, and the administration of lawful authority.
Other Statutes — 26.5% of Recorded Crime
Offences defined in legislation outside the Penal Code, primarily regulatory violations — 38,772 cases in 2024. Road traffic offences (345,857 in 2024) are reported separately and excluded from the serious offences analysis.
Eleven Selected Serious Offences
The report provides deep analysis of eleven selected serious offences — these are the crimes examined with full demographic breakdowns of victims and perpetrators.
📍 Event Description
- Time of day and day of week (2-hour bands across 7 days)
- Month of year
- Location type
- Weapon or implement used (where applicable)
- Motive (murder and threat to kill only)
- Point of entry (breaking offences only)
🛡️ Victim Description
- Age group and sex
- Marital status
- Education level attained
- Employment status
- Relationship to the perpetrator (selected offences)
👤 Perpetrator Description
- Age group and sex
- Marital status
- Education level attained
- Employment status
Why Perpetrator Counts Are Lower Than Case Counts
Perpetrator data covers only individuals who had been dealt with by the police at the time of reporting. The perpetrator counts in this publication are therefore lower than case counts — not every identified offender had been processed by the time the report was compiled.
Same Architecture, Every Sector
The infrastructure powering this publication is the same platform Data 123 deploys across education, tourism, and labour market intelligence. Contact info@data123.online for data engineering and analytics services.
Reported Crimes Only
All figures reflect crimes reported to the police and recorded in the Crime Register. Actual incidence is higher for every category — the gap is largest for gender-based violence and human trafficking, where stigma, fear, and lack of awareness create barriers to reporting. Every figure is a floor, not a ceiling.
Ongoing Investigations
The report analyses cases recorded during 2024 whether completed or not. Some facts and descriptions may change once cases progress beyond preliminary investigations — perpetrator characteristics in particular may be updated as investigations conclude.
Perpetrator Undercounting
Perpetrator data covers only individuals dealt with by the police at the time of reporting. For most offences, recorded perpetrators are substantially fewer than cases — many offenders had not yet been identified, arrested, or processed when the report was compiled.
The 2020 Anomaly
The 22.8% decline in 2020 reflects COVID-19 restrictions on both criminal activity and reporting capacity. The 2021–2022 increases partially reflect reporting catch-up. Year-on-year comparisons involving 2020 should be treated with caution.
Defilement Age Band Incompatibility
Defilement uses a compressed 16–18 age band for victims, while all other offences use a standard 16–20 band. Cross-offence age comparisons in this range are not directly comparable — flagged in the database with an age_band_note field.
North West Division Historical Gap
The North West Police Division was established in 2022. Data is absent (NULL, not zero) for 2019–2021. National averages and growth rates spanning the full six-year period should account for this gap.
Location Taxonomy Differences
Three incompatible location systems are used: robbery uses four categories, stock theft uses a five-category rural system, and all other offences use a nine-category standard system. Direct location comparisons across these groups are not valid.
Population Estimates Are Projections
Rates per 10,000 or 100,000 use Statistics Botswana projections from 2015, not census counts, and carry their own uncertainty. The 2024 estimate used is 2,540,215.
Independent Commentary, Grounded in the Source Tables
All analytical commentary in this publication represents the independent interpretation of Data 123 analysts based on the BPS data. Commentary reflects patterns visible in the data and does not represent the views of the Botswana Police Service or any government body.
Where the data shows a clear directional finding — for example, the consistent unemployment correlation across perpetrator profiles — the commentary states this directly. Where findings are ambiguous or require contextual interpretation — for example, the sharp decline in human trafficking cases — the commentary explicitly flags the interpretive uncertainty.
No Modelling, No Interpolation
No data has been modelled, interpolated, or estimated beyond what is present in the BPS source tables. Every chart and table in this publication is directly queryable against the crime_stats database schema.
Botswana Police Service (2025). Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024. Botswana Police Service, Gaborone.
Data 123 (2025). Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024 — Intelligence Publication. Data 123, Gaborone. insights.data123.online/crime-statistics-2024. Retrieved [date].
Data 123 (2025), citing Botswana Police Service (2025). [Finding]. Annual Crime Statistics Report 2024 — Intelligence Publication. insights.data123.online/crime-statistics-2024.
Reproduction of charts and written analysis from this publication is permitted provided both the Botswana Police Service (as the primary data source) and Data 123 (as the analytical publisher) are attributed.
Open Intelligence for Botswana — Built on Official Data
Data 123 is a Botswana data consultancy providing research, analytics, and intelligence services to organisations across the public and private sectors. The Insights Hub at insights.data123.online is a series of open intelligence publications — annual reports, data visualisations, and analytical commentary published freely for organisations and individuals across Botswana.
Future publications in this series include Education Statistics 2025,
Tourism Intelligence 2025, and Labour Market Intelligence 2025.
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