The Value of Date Data are valuable and can be used to shape public policy how to deal with homeless weed and seed programs go into socially disorganized neighborhood weed out the bad stuff and seed in better things analyze and evaluate existing programs create new programs plan new laws develop funding requests Sources of Data Nationally crime statistics come from two major sources Uniform Crime Reports secondary data incomplete also known as the UCR NIBRS Program It s free to the public you can see if you can move into a different area and analyze the crime level in that area Drawbacks police departments are voluntarily giving info to FBI Not all departments participate since it s voluntary And different de nitions of crime depending on the police National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS two times a year they call houses and survey crime Contains a population that we probably want to survey because it comes from people who don t report the crime Ex sexual battery Drawbacks people lie surveys could be biased etc Recall very dif cult To help people recall information the phrasing of the sentence is very important Anchoring tying some event to a certain time will help recall Additionally data are available from Professional organizations example PERF Offender self reports They lie to make themselves look better in front of their peers Uniform Crime Reports UCR Index Crime The reports began in 1930 Data are collected by F B I Approx 16 000 police agents report crime data murder rape robbery assault Burglary larceny motor vehicle theft arson Part 1 Offenses Violent Crime Property Crime NIBRS The New UCR National Incident Based Reporting System Incident driven rather than summary based FBI started this program in 1988 City county state and federal law enforcement agencies furnished detailed data on crime and arrest activities at the incident level The NIBRS isn t a separate report it s the new methodology underlying the modern day UCR system NIBRS The new UCR NIBRS is much more detailed than the old UCR system including data on place of occurrence weapon used type and value of property damaged or stolen the personal characteristics of the victim and offender nature of victim offender relationship 22 offenses include kidnapping larceny grand theft auto pornography prostitution narcotic offenses embezzlement extortion arson assault bribery burglary counterfeiting vandalism gambling homicide fraud weapons violations robbery forcible sex offenses non forcible sex offenses receiving stolen property Major Shifts in Crime Rates 1 2 Early 1940 s Sharp drop in crime rate as many young men went into WW2 1960 s early 1990 s dramatic increase in crime rates as police professionalism and victim reporting grew This is because it was a time of social change urbanization lead 3 1991 2006 Signi cant decline in most major crime rates as funding for crime rates as funding for crime ghting increase and may embrace a get tough attitude 4 2006 on Violent crime rates start to rise again pushed by economic uncertainty more teens copycat crimes and social disorganization UCR NIBRS Crime Rates crime rate number of crimes 100 000 population Clearance Rate number of crimes solved number of crimes committed Murder Rates allow for comparison across areas and times The unlawful killing of a human being by another Includes all willful and unlawful homocides Non negligent manslaughter no legal intent copable responsible Suicides Deaths caused by accidents or negligence Attempted murders Least likely Part 1 offense to occur High clearance rate Murders are more common during warmer months and in southern states Most victims and perpetrators are age 20 24 Weapon most often used rearms Victim and offender are often acquaintances Sexual Assault and Sexual Battery one is the intent to do something battery is the intent and carry through of the action One of the most underreported violent crimes due to thinking the police wont be able to catch the suspect Believe police will be unsympathetic Want to avoid embarrassment and avoid friends family from knowing Fear reprisal by the rapist and additional victimization by court proceedings Excludes Data on Murder Forcible Rape The unlawful taking or attempted taking of property that is in the immediate possession of another by force or violence and or by putting the victim in fear Excludes pick pocketing purse snatching robbery by sudden snatching Unlawful in icting of serious injury upon the person of another attempted assaults especially when a deadly weapon is used The possible use of a gun knife simple assaults st punching etc Unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft Types of burglaries forcible entry unlawful entry without force attempted forcible entry unlawful taking or attending taking carrying leading or riding away of property from the possession of another Robbery Aggravated Assault Includes Excludes Burglary Larceny Theft Part 2 Offenses simple assault less serious than Part 1 offenses and include many social order offenses such as DUI Prostitution Vandalism Receiving stolen property NCVS began operation in 1972 based on victim self reports National crime victimization survey Designed to measure the dark gure of crime Uses data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics More than 43 000 households are surveyed twice per year Measures households touched by crimes Includes data on rape robbery assault burglary personal and household larceny motor vehicle theft Statistics Reveal about 1 2 of all violent crime is reported slightly more than 1 3 of all property crime is reported Victims are more likely men younger people african american city residents lower income Problems with the UCR NIBRS and NCVS UCR NIBRS not everyone reports some crimes are rarely reported victims inaccuracies bureaucratic in uences reporting methods are differences between regions and states hierarchal counting system contains only data that FBI thinks is appropriate NCVS there is potential for false of exaggerated reports false reports may be generated by overzealous interviewers some people won t respond respondents may suffer from faulty memories respondents may misinterpret events hierarchal counting system contains only data that BJS thinks is appropriate Findings of the National Violence Against Women Survey NVAWS 18 of women have experienced a completed or attempted rape more than half of these were under 18 when rst raped Women are signi cantly more likely to be
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