Crime

Crime

violation of criminal law for which a government authority applies a formal penalty

Laws divide crime into categories depending on

Offense, age, potential punishments, court that holds jurisdiction

Mala in se

Crime that is wrong in nature (immoral) such as murder, rape, assault

Mala prohibita

offenses prohibited by law but not wrong in themselves (weed is illegal)

Felonies

Serious crimes punishable by 1 yr or more in prison

Misdemeanors

Less serious crimes punishable by less than 1 yr. incarceration (go to jail or probation)

Infractions

Minor violation of law punished by a citation and release (fine)

Visible crimes

Street or ordinary crimes (what public sees as criminal)

three categories of visible crimes

violent crimes, property crimes, public order crimes (threaten general wellbeing)

Victimless crimes

Crimes that involve willing participants and exchange of illegal goods and services (drug dealing, prostitution)

Professional crime

Crimes committed as a day-to-day work (individuals specialize in certain types of crime and are often career criminals)

Organized crime

Criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities (mafia, smuggling, Yakuza)

Hate crimes

Offenses committed because of bias against race, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation)

White-collar crimes

Illegal acts committed during business activities (Crime in the suites)

Cybercrime

Illegal activities conducted through use of computers

What are main sources of crime data

Official statistics and surveys

What kinds of official statistics are there

Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

What kind of surveys are used

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

UCR

Was the main source of crime data prior to 2021, conducted by the FBI since 1930, Crimes broken into part 1 and part two (part 1 contains violent and property crimes and part 2 contains other crimes)

Benefits of UCR

Collected yearly by police, has large coverage, it is the best measure of homicide

Weaknesses of UCR

“Dark figure of crime”- unreported crimes to police, Hierarchy rule - only counts most serious crime, voluntary submit

NIBRS

Redesigned UCR which is incident driven and not summary based, run by FBI

Benefits of NIBRS

covers more crimes, no hierarchy rule, includes more info on victims, relationships, weapons, value of things, and included attempts as well as complete crimes

NCVS

An annual survey of American households conducted to determine the extent of victimization, run by Bureau of Justice Statistics

Benefits of NCVS

Better at documenting unreported victimization, included attempts, results show far more crime than police are aware of, more info in victims, info on cost of crime

Weaknesses of NCVS

because it is a survey it is subject to lies and forgetfulness, telescoping (traumatic events seem sooner than it may have been

What are the 8 crimes within the Part I section of the UCR

Violent crimes - Murder, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated assault

Property Crimes - Burglary, theft/larceny, Auto theft, Arson