The Measurement of Crime Official data- Official compilers are government agencies that collect crime data for a variety of purposes. The most common is “agency reports”. Data about crime is reported at the state level and updated routinely but each state’s agency differs in scope and so the data is not uniform. Data collected by federal agencies is also not uniform and therefore fragmented. Examples of a federal agency?

Federal Agencies FBI DEA U.S. Secret Service The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts The Federal Bureau of Prisons ATF Department of Justice

In 1981 Congress Created the Bureau of Justice Statistics Purpose of the BJS is to furnish an objective, independent, and competent source of police-relevant data to the government and to criminal justice and academic communities Goals of the BJS is to unify data, follow an offender from the time of entering the criminal justice process until release from correctional facility and to provide services to state and local agencies to aid in the data gathering. BJS is not to be involved in policy making

Data collecting Uniform Crime Reports NIBRS NCVS SRD NYS CCS NCHIP

Crime Data When analyzing crime data criminologists must consider the source and the time period that was covered. Characteristics of Offenders are important for criminologists to consider. Look at age, gender and race of offender. Characteristics of Victim is important for criminologists to consider. Look at age, gender and race of victim.

U.C.R. Published annually. The UCR groups its offenses into Part I and Part II crimes. Part I are known as index crimes. Example: Homicide, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny and Motor Vehicle Theft. Part II offenses- vandalism, drug offenses, liquor law violations. Data on Part I and Part II offenses are sent quarterly to the FBI. They break down the information by city,county, metropolitan area, and geographical divisions. Data on Part I and Part II offenses are also broken down by age, gender, and race

Limitations of the UCR? The number of crimes known to police is a serious underestimation of actual crime. Police do not know about all criminal incidents. Many crimes are not reported. Police discretion Lack of victim cooperation Methods of counting crime is not uniform. Example one robber points a gun at ten people and robs them all of their wallets. Is this one crime or ten separate crimes? Crimes not included in official repots For example the UCR does not include federal crimes, computer crimes, organized crime, or white collar crimes.

The National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Due to the deficiencies of the UCR, a new collection method was approved by the FBI and the new system is called the NIBRS. NIBRS categorizes crimes according to numerous elements such as the relationship between the offender and the victim, the use of alcohol +/or drugs, type of weapon used, and the type of victim. 22 crimes are categorized.

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Victimization surveys were created in response to criticism of the FBI’s UCR which does not record all crimes. To ascertain the true number of crime in our society is important to know so we can understand what crimes victims do not report. One purpose fo the NCVS is to ascertain why citizens do not report crime.

Self Reported Data (SRD) One way to measure crime is to survey people about their own criminal activity.

The National Youth Survey (NYS) A program for gathering crime data by interviewing adolescents over a five year period. The program has been structured to overcome many of the criticisms of other self reported studies.

The Crime Classification System (CCS) Collection of crime data based on the severity of crimes and the effect of the crimes on the victims. Unlike the UCR, the CCS has the capacity to measure the degree of severity, giving more refined measures of harm suffered by victims and the type of circumstances in which that harm occurred. This system might have a more useful data base for criminal justice agencies and a better understanding of victimization risk.

Analysis of Crime Data Crime data is critical to an understanding of crime and criminal justice systems. It is relevant sociologically to determine from the official data what behaviors are defined as deviant and how society organizes, classifies and treats those forms of behavior. Official data indicate that deviants are distinguished from nondeviants. Also police policy can be analyzed…is a certain crime fighting program working? Perhaps crime rates are low because the police force is efficient? Also if the data can reveal why some crime victims report some crimes, policy can be created to make encourage this for all crimes.