Criminal Justice Today CHAPTER 2 Criminal Justice Today, 13th Edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, © 2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved BOOK COVER The Crime Picture

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Crime Data and Social Policy A statistical picture of crime can be a powerful tool for creating social policy Officials rely on crime data to do the following:  Analyze and evaluate programs and crime-control techniques  Design new initiatives  Plan new laws  Allocate funding

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Crime Data and Social Policy The objectivity (and therefore the usefulness) of crime data has been questioned Public opinion of crime is greatly influenced by the media and can cause a public demand for “get tough” crime policies

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Uniform Crime Reporting Created in 1927 by IACP and adopted by FBI in 1930 Seven crimes in the original index, and arson was added in 1979  The classification of Part I offenses has been discontinued since 2004 Crime rate Clearance rate

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved National Incident-Based Reporting System Began in 1988 by the FBI to enhance the UCR Goals  Enhance the quality, quantity, and timeliness of crime data collection by law enforcement  Improve methodology used for computing, analyzing, auditing, and publishing the collected data

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Crimes Against persons  Violent crime involving use of physical force Crimes against property  Property is taken unlawfully Crimes against public order  Acts that disrupt peace in a civil society

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved UCR/NIBRS Terminology Program categories tend to parallel statutory definitions of criminal behavior, but they are not legal classifications—only conveniences created for statistical-reporting purposes These definitions may differ from statutory definitions of crimes

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Traditional UCR Consists of aggregate crime counts Records one offense per incident, as determined by the hierarchy rule:  Suppresses counts of lesser offenses in multiple-offense incidents Does not distinguish between attempted and completed crimes Records rape of females only

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Crime Reporting In 1990 the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act was passed, which requires colleges to publish annual security reports College students experience violence at average annual rates that are lower than those for nonstudents in the same age group

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2012 Crime Clock for Violent Crimes One murder every 35.4 minutes One forcible rape every 6.2 minutes One robbery every 1.5 minutes One aggravated assault every 41.5 seconds Adapted from Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, 2012 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2013).

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The National Crime Victimization Survey Established in 1972, partially as a response to the dark figure of crime—crimes that are not reported to the police and that remain unknown to officials Based on self-reports, rather than police reports Designed to estimate the occurrence of all crimes, whether reported or not The Bureau of Justice Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The National Crime Victimization Survey Approximately 15% of American households are touched by crime every year About 22 million victimizations occur each year City residents are almost twice as likely as rural residents to be victims of crime About half of all violent crimes, and slightly more than one-third of all property crimes, are reported to police Klaus, Crime and the Nation’s Households, 2006.

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS statistics for recent years reveal the following:  Victims of crime are more often men than women  Younger people are more likely than the elderly to be victims of crime  Blacks are more likely than whites or members of other racial groups to be victims of violent crimes  Violent victimization rates are highest among people in lower-income families

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Underreporting UCR/NIBRS The belief that the police can't do anything Fear of reprisal Embarrassment about the crime itself, or fear during NCVS False or exaggerated reports Unintentional inaccuracies Memory problems/may not remember the exact details Forgotten crimes

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Special Categories of Crime Crimes against women Crimes against the elderly Hate crimes White-collar crimes Organized crime Gun crime Drug crime Cybercrime Terrorism

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved New Types of Crimes Flash rob Identity theft Computer crimes Cyberstalking Gender identity

Criminal Justice Today, 13 th edition Frank Schmalleger Copyright © 2015, ©2013 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved