However, just by writing to your politicians, you'll shorten those odds radically. Always ask a question so that they have to reply to you. And ask it again if they don't answer properly. You are absolutely entitled to a reasonable and reasoned answer to a reasonable and reasoned question from any public servant being paid out of your taxes. See you get it.
Persistence is everything.
If you are going to use statistics, check them and their source carefully - preferably use the Government's own. Properly used they are a diagnostic tool for obtaining a realistic measure of a problem and if you don't like the answers they give, tough, deal with it, because it's the way things are. Similarly, test the opposition's figures very carefully. All in all, however, it has to be said that statistics are tricky. If you and your family want to be able to walk anywhere, any time, free from danger, be it political or criminal, then your help is needed.