Preview

Response to the Uniform Crime Report's Hierarchy rule

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
262 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Response to the Uniform Crime Report's Hierarchy rule
I believe that the UCR’s hierarchy rule negatively influences the data represented by the report. It is completely nonsensical of the FBI to publish a “uniform crime report” and not include all of the crimes. In a way, it is exactly like working two part-time jobs and only reporting your earnings from the higher paying one to the IRS on your income taxes. Something tells me that the federal government would not allow that in this circumstance; which begs the question, why would they be so accepting of mediocrity when it comes to the UCR?
In addition, what kind of message is it sending to the victims of these so-called, ‘lesser’ crimes that they are not important enough to be recorded? How are these people supposed to feel? Will they even bother to call the police the next time a crime is committed against them? Statistics say no. The dark figure of crime exists because of situations like this where the victims of crime are left feeling completely and utterly abandoned by a system that apparently only favors a wow-factor.
Emotional semantics aside, the UCR’s conscious decision to omit lesser crimes committed per individual dramatically alters the real life picture of crime in America. Much of the crime that is committed is done so in sprees, burglary, auto theft, drug possession, manslaughter, etc. none of these things are mutually exclusive and all of them are deserving of a place in the official and ‘uniform’ crime report, regardless of the offender or the time frame within which the offense(s) occurred.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Researchers were consistent in their use of the data provided, while maintaining claims that the information may be skewed. Yet, the value of UCR data could be determined by coming it to surveys of victimization and offending, incident of crime surveys, and self-reporting studies.…

    • 2491 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    A commonly used term in today’s UCR is clearance rate, which refers to the proportion of reported crimes that have been “solved”. Clearances are judges primarily on the basis of arrests and do not involved judicial disposition. Once arrest has been made, a crime is regarded as “cleared” for reporting purposes. Murder has been the highest clearance rate so far.…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    CJS Appendix B

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to "Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics" (n.d.), " The UCR Program collects statistics on violent crime (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft)”.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1929, the International Association of Police Chiefs decided there was a need for reliable, uniform crime statistics. In 1930 the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) was given the task of collecting, publishing, and archiving crime statistics. The report would eventually become known as the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program. This report is a collaborative effort of more than 17,000 cities and law enforcement agencies who voluntarily submit data on crimes reported in their respective areas.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With so many policing agencies, we measure the crime level here in the United States with three main tools. “They are uniform crime report, National crime victimization survey, and the National incident based reporting system. The uniform crime report: Law enforcement agencies voluntarily report crime statistics on a monthly basis to the FBI. Areas of interest are murder, burglary, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny/theft, auto theft and arson. The National victimization survey is conducted by the Bureau of Justice statistics; the survey is conducted every…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the biggest issues with crime analysis is the dark figure of crime. The dark figure of crime has to be taken into account because it will tamper with the data. This causes the data not to reflect crime accurately. If the criminal commits more than one crime, the UCR also only lists the most severe crime (FBI-Uniform Crime Report, 2011, para. 1). In other words, all crime data is not recorded.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is a nationwide cooperative effort of over 16,000 cities, county and state law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crime brought to their attention. This program was develop in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police provide reliable crime statistics for the nation. Each year, several statistical publications are attain and the information, which has been selected by several thousand law enforcement agencies across the United States is design and inputted into the uniform crime report database. This analysis can help determine whether the crime rate is under control…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A crime is which one breaks the law, meaning an individual or a group partakes in an event to do something wrong and one is accused in which a crime was committed. A crime (1981-2005), according to The Free Dictionary is defined as “A violation of a law in which there is injury to the public or a member of the public and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine as possible penalties. There is some sentiment for excluding from the "crime" category crimes…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Uniform Crime Reporting programs (UCR/NIBRS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) are programs headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The UCR/NIBRS compiles data from crimes reported to the police and the NCVS collects data from surveys of homes through out the country. Because of the vast difference of collection of data and the other variances there is a noteworthy difference of reported crime rates between the two programs (Schmalleger, 2011).…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program breaks down the data into states, the cities within that state, and numerous other categories. These categories include population, violent crimes, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, property crimes, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2014).…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crime Data Comparison

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the late 1920’s the idea was recognized by the International Association of Chiefs of Police or most commonly known as the (IACP), that there needed to be a more reliable and accurate way to keep track of all of the crime data and statistics. This information was needed to determine the crimes that were changing from year to year as well as the sources of what could be changing these statistics such as population changes, poverty changes, and so on and so forth. After a few years of deliberation over the record-keeping practices being used at the time, planning for a system called the Uniform Crime Report program (UCR) in which it came in to working effect in 1929. It was in 1930 a year later, in January that the United States Congress enacted a Code that gave the UCR the authority by the attorney general to gather information about crimes. The attorney general then delegated the responsibility to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to act as the bookkeepers for collecting all the crime data for the UCR. In 1930 the FBI became the first agency to start a resource to do just that. Since the beginning of the UCR program every year new data has been collected and published in order to crime statistics for each area across the United States. Information stored would include numbers of different crimes such as murders, arson, burglary, property crimes, rapes, larceny, etc. The UCR program started in January 1930 with data gathered from law enforcement agencies in 400 cities from 43 states submitting information and currently includes approximately 17,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide that voluntarily contribute their crime statistics.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    First, the UCR only receives reports for the most serious offense even if multiple offenses occur during a criminal act. For instance, in the event of a robbery at a convenience store occurs and the assailant rapes the female cashier the only offense that will be reported to the UCR is the rape because it is considered a more serious crime. Another flaw with UCR is that only with crimes involving murder or rape is demographic information recorded unless there is an arrest. The demographic information regarding the victim and the perpetrator should be compiled in the UCR reports in order to have a more accurate depiction of crimes, victims, and potential assailant’s characteristics. This type of demographic information may help researchers, policy makers, and social programs find preemptive solutions to the criminal justice bombardment that we are currently experiencing. In addition, the UCR program does not take into account white-collar crimes, which are increasingly becoming a significant issue in our society. A major problem that occurs with the UCR reporting process is that statistical information is voluntary, and may be submitted manually or electronically. Some agencies continue to report crime statistics to the FBI manually due to lack of funding for technological updates; however, other law enforcement agencies alter the crime reports they submit to reflect a lower crime rate so the community perception is positive. Since the UCR generates reports on crimes that have been reported, many crimes that are not reported, but still occur are not accounted for in the crime rate statistical information. Therefore, the data regarding crime rates is not as reliable as many politicians, law enforcement agencies, and citizens…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to safewise.com, “In 2015, a property crime occurred every 3.9 seconds in the U.S”. This increases the concern of having the proper safety for one’s belongings. The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines property crime as offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. Vandalism is also a crime, but it has not been reported to the UCR. These offenses don’t involve a force or threat of force to victims, but it’s generally someone looking at the potential benefits that could be derived from taking someone else’s money or property. Things such as electronics, jewelry, vehicles and sentimental items are very expensive to buy and to replace so it’s important to do…

    • 213 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Uniform Crime Report

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This week in class we were asked to choose two metropolitan areas with different data and write a paper comparing the occurrence of the offense in the selected areas. We were asked to identify the number of occurrences reported to the police for each area, and address the following questions which area had more reported incidents? What were the rates of the crime for each area?…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unfounding and Defounding

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    McCleary R., Nienstedt, B. C. & Erven J. M. (1982). Uniform Crime Reports as Organizational Outcomes: Three Time Series Experiments,” Social Problems 29 (1982): 361-72…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays