CRIME DATA

Crime Data

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Crime Data

Definition of Crime

Crime is defined as the commission of an act or act of omission that violates the law and is punishable by the state . crimes are considered injurious to society or the community . as defined by law , a crime includes both the act and the intent to commit the act (Microsoft Encarta , 2002

Importance of Crime Data

Accurate crime data are important to many segments of society . Citizens need to know the

probability of being crime victims for precautionary purposes (WACrimeStats .net . Law enforcers and administrators also need to know the occurrence of crime in their surrounding jurisdiction to utilize resources more efficiently in protecting citizens and bringing criminals to justice (WACrimeStats .net

Legislators require statewide information on crime to aid them in developing laws to uphold stability in society , and in allocating budget to both state and local governments for criminal justice programs (James Council , 2008 ,

.1 . Politicians use crime data to persuade voters of the results of control policies and programs (O 'Connors , 2007 Researches and planners need the information on crime to analyze trends and propose changes (WACrimeStats .net . Interest groups use crime data to substantiate their position on crime issues

Classification and Methods of Calculating Crime

For purposes of illustrating how crime data are collected and estimated this presents the methodology used by the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR ) in the United States . The International Association of Chiefs of Police established the UCR program in 1929 to provide reliable and uniform statistics on crime for the country (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] . In 1930 , the FBI was assigned to collect , publish and archive those statistics

For consistency and comparability of data , FBI established requirements for crime data classification , and methods of counting . FBI requires local law enforcement agencies across the US to submit monthly reports on the number of crimes that occurred in their respective jurisdiction (James Council , 2008 ,

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The two major classifications of crimes are Part I and Part II offenses Part I offenses are further subcategorized as (1 ) violent crimes against persons , such as criminal homicide , forcible rape , robbery , and aggravated assault and (2 ) property crimes , such as burglary larceny-theft , motor vehicle theft and arson (WACrimeStats .net . Part I offenses are ranked accordingly from most serious to lease serious crimes (as enumerated above (WACrimeStats .net

Part II offenses cover all other offenses , including fraud , forgery gambling , drug abuse violations , prostitution , vandalism , embezzlement carrying illegal weapons , offenses against the family and children , and drunkenness (James Council , 2008 ,

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For Part I offenses , the crime data includes the number of offenses known to police , the number and characteristics of persons arrested (including age , sex and race , and the number of clearances . For Part II offenses , crime data includes the number of arrests made (p .7 . In addition to these data , FBI collects supplemental information , such as type of weapons used in the murder , hate crime incidents , number of...