crime stat

The law enforcement community has an ever-increasing need for timely and accurate data for a variety of purposes such as planning, budget formulation, resource allocation, assessment of police performance, and the evaluation of experimental programs. The information in this section focuses on the use, method of computation, and limitations of basic crime indicators employed by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. These indicators can aid law enforcement administrators in the performance of their duties and serve as forerunners for the implementation of more sophisticated analytical tools. Volume, rate, and trend are basic crime indicators used in the UCR Program. Each statistic provides a different perspective of the crime experience known to law enforcement officials. Volume Crime volume is a basic indicator of the frequency of known criminal activity. In analyzing offense data, the user should be aware that a UCR volume indicator does not represent the actual number of crimes committed rather, it represents the number of reported offenses. With respect to murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, and aggravated assault, it represents the number of known victims. For robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, it represents the number of known incidents. The crimes are divided into two components violent and property crimes. The violent crime total includes murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, while the property crime total encompasses burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Offense and arrest rates Crime rates are indicators of reported crime activity standardized by population. They are more refined indicators for comparative purposes than are volume figures. The UCR Program provides three types of crime rates offense rates, arrest rates, and clearance rates. An offense rate, or crime rate, defined as the number of offenses per 100,000 population,