Is this the best a local newspaper can come up with?

From the Thurrock Gazzette website (Essex) Feb 16, 2011
"Crime mapping slammed as unfair as shops named a hotspot"
"A CONTROVERSIAL new crime mapping system has been slammed – after Lakeside shopping centre was named the most crime-ridden place in Thurrock.
The online map shows 143 reports of crime and anti-social behaviour were made at the centre last December.
This included two robberies, three burglaries, 13 violent offences, five cases of vehicle crime and 19 reports of antisocial behaviour.
The remaining 101 incidents fall into the “other” category which can include everything from shoplifting and theft to sex offences.
The category is so wide-ranging to prevent the identification of victims.
However, the nationwide crime map has been widely criticised as highlighting the country’s high streets and shopping centres as the worst-hit areas simply because of the number of people who visit them. . . .  "

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What an unusual approach - who is slamming the crime maps? Who says it is controversial? I would have thought level headed people would be able to work out for themselves that a place which attracts so many visitors would naturally have higher crime than your average residential street. What would be more useful is to work out how many visitors the shopping centre attracts and divided it by the number of crimes. There is no wonder the newspapers are in decline if all they can do is stir up this kind of nonsense.  Read the comment at the end of the article to see a local resident who has clearly worked it out already.