Crime Reporting and Rates Response
| | Crime Reporting and Rates Response | | CJS 200 | 6/25/2011 | Harvey Smith
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The purpose of major crime reporting programs is to keep track of crimes that are being committed. These programs report when, where, and what types of crimes that have taken place. The law enforcement agencies use this program to help reduce the crime rates, and also to see if criminal activity is increasing or decreasing. In order for a crime reporting program to be successful; it must be accurate. If the information that is being reported is not accurate that the program will not be a success. In addition to the accuracy of the reports, all crimes must be reported. Many cases will not be reported to make a certain area or division appear to have a lower crime rate. This happens a lot when someone is being into office. Once a crime has been reported into the system, it is difficult to try to take it out; therefore, sometimes the crimes just do not get reported. Clearance rates are a measure of crimes solved by the police. The relation of crime rates to clearance rates, and arrest rates revolves around the Conflict Theory. The Conflict Theory states that clearance rates may cause offices to focus on appearing to solve crimes rather than solving them. Our text gives us an example of cops that catch a burglar and convince this burglar to confess to other burglaries that he did not commit in exchange for testimony on his behalf by the cops. The burglar confessed and the cases were cleared. The cops did not arrest the burglars of the other crimes. Various police forces have different ways of measuring clearance rates. (Schmalleger, 2011)
References Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An introductory text for the twenty-first century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Prentice Hall. World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional Systems, 2nd
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The purpose of major crime reporting programs is to keep track of crimes that are being committed. These programs report when, where, and what types of crimes that have taken place. The law enforcement agencies use this program to help reduce the crime rates, and also to see if criminal activity is increasing or decreasing. In order for a crime reporting program to be successful; it must be accurate. If the information that is being reported is not accurate that the program will not be a success. In addition to the accuracy of the reports, all crimes must be reported. Many cases will not be reported to make a certain area or division appear to have a lower crime rate. This happens a lot when someone is being into office. Once a crime has been reported into the system, it is difficult to try to take it out; therefore, sometimes the crimes just do not get reported. Clearance rates are a measure of crimes solved by the police. The relation of crime rates to clearance rates, and arrest rates revolves around the Conflict Theory. The Conflict Theory states that clearance rates may cause offices to focus on appearing to solve crimes rather than solving them. Our text gives us an example of cops that catch a burglar and convince this burglar to confess to other burglaries that he did not commit in exchange for testimony on his behalf by the cops. The burglar confessed and the cases were cleared. The cops did not arrest the burglars of the other crimes. Various police forces have different ways of measuring clearance rates. (Schmalleger, 2011)
References Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An introductory text for the twenty-first century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Prentice Hall. World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional Systems, 2nd
References: Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An introductory text for the twenty-first century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Prentice Hall. World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional Systems, 2nd ed.