Crime data: UCR and NIBRS & Self report +Victimisization

criminilogy Unit 1, Week 2

crime data usally generated by …

crimes that are known to police and self reported

Uniform crime report (UCR)

a national database maintained by the FBI that compiles reported crime statistics from law enforcement agencies.

in the UCR data you can typically find…

offenses, arrests, clearances, personnel data, and demographic information.

Hierarchy rule

Under the SRS system, in a multiple offense situation, only the most serious crime committed would be reflected in the data. which was. weakness

SRS weaknesses

limited data, outdated definitions for crimes, doesn’t differentiate between attempted and completed offenses, and hierarchy rule.

National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

incident-based reorting system for crimes knwn to teh police. collects incidents and arrests info from law enforcement aganecies

NIBRS benefits

more expanded data+specificity in offense reporting, updated crime definitions, additional sorting categories, no hierarchy rule

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

A natianallly representative survey of about 95k households. Respondents interviewed about frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization for non-fatal personal crimes and houshold property crimes

The "dark figure of crime" refers to:

Crimes that go unreported or are generally unknown to law enforcement.

three reasons people might not report a crime to the police.

Some people do not trust the police, so they will not report a crime to the police. Some may think it is none of their business and will not report. Or maybe a bystander supports whatever crime is committed and will not report it. 

respodents are asked about…

demographics. specific experinces with crime, like offender characteristics, characteristics of crime, police report, vixtim experiences with the CJS

4 objectives of victimization survey

1.Develop detailed info about victims & consequences
of crime
2. Estimate the # & types of crime not reported to police
3. Provide uniform measures of selected types of
crimes
4. Permit comparisons over time and by location