Strengths And Weaknesses Of The UCR

Crime measurement and statistics for police departments are very important when it comes to money allotment, staffing needs or termination and it is also used to determine the effectiveness of new laws and programs. There are three tools used to measure major crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports, National Crime Victimization Survey and the National Incident Based Reporting System- which is currently being tested to replace the Uniform Crime Reports. Although there different tools used to measure crime, crime rates can be deceiving. Each different tool reports a different type of rate, crime rates, arrest

Official statistics include the UCR, Uniform Crime Report, and NIBRS, National Incident-Based Reporting System. UCR is a summary based reporting system that collects data on the eight index crimes, murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft, and arson. The UCR is published annually by the FBI, but the data is collected by law enforcement agencies all around the United States. UCR looks at trends of crime and gives statistics of crime in certain areas. Three weaknesses of the UCR is it only reports the highest crime committed, so if someone commits burglary and murders someone in the process the UCR will only report the murder, it only reports crimes known to the police, and not all crimes are reported to enhance the view of cities and areas. Although the UCR has weaknesses, it also has its strengths. Three strengths of UCR are that it has multiple years of data available, almost all law enforcement agencies use this to report crimes, and helps law

UCR or known as the Uniform crime reports is an annual report published by the FBI in the DOJ, which is meant to estimate most of the major street crimes in the United States.The main purpose of the UCR is basically to collect as many crimes or reliable crimes that come up as crime statistics so it can be used in our law enforcement administration. The Ucr is a very helpful tool for the law. The system was created in 1929. It provided information for criminologists,sociologists, and even the media. The Ucr mostly concentrates on assaults and robberies. The NIBRS or the national incident based reporting system is the system that the government uses for gathering data about recent or past crimes. The system has a lot of purposes but one of the main purposes’ is to evaluate the crimes associated with any current culture of violence theories.

The UCR, also known as the Uniform Crime Reports, is a report put out by the FBI that shows a series of data on crime. It is summary based and a group level of analysis. The FBI gets the information for the UCR through agencies/jurisdictions volunteering the information to them. Some of the positives about the UCR is that it can compare certain agencies and areas in which more crimes were committed. The UCR also is quick, efficient, and easy to acquire the information. One of the drawbacks for the UCR is that it does not encompass all the crimes reported to the police. Since providing the reports is voluntary, jurisdictions vary in the completeness of the data they sent. There can also be clerical or filing problems. Only the most serious crime

In 1992, the NCVS survey was redesigned and produced betters results in victims recalling and reporting more types of incidents.

The Uniform Crime Report, which was developed in the 1930s, is commonly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a record of crimes committed all across the United States. These crimes, which fall under two categories, Part I and Part II offenses, are reported by local police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation each year. Part I offenses are considered to be the more serious of crimes recognized by society. Such examples of this are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, etc. Part II offenses are those that are considered less serious, such as fraud, simple assault, drug abuse, gambling, stolen property, embezzlement, etc. Part I crimes can also be subdivided into what are known as violent crimes and

The annual National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) has been the primary method for gathering data and providing these staggering statistics. The NCVS provides information gathered from the victim, which includes information on crimes that went unreported to the police. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is also a valid reference for gathering crime information within the United States. The UCR only has information regarding crimes that were reported to the police, as well as arrests. Both forums are used by the FBI. In addition, researchers use this information for their research. Even Taylor and

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) stemmed from a mid-1980s report, is an incident-based reporting system (some states use a customized version) that is used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for the collecting and reporting of data on crimes that are known by police. NIBRS is the result of law enforcement thoroughly evaluating and modernizing the UCR (Uniform Crime Reports). The UCR, produced by the FBI, was initially developed by the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) in 1931 in which police departments across jurisdictions could exchange information in regards to crime. Local, state and federal agencies generate NIBRS data from their

The UCR is also called Uniform Crime Report is a recording system that is provided by the Federal Bureau of investigation and the purpose for the UCR is to help law enforcement agencies to exchange information about reported crime (Meadows. PG 4). The NCVS, also known as National Crime Victimization is another source of victimization data and it also helps law enforcement to collect information about the victim and it tracks the crime of rape, robbery, assault, and larceny crimes.

Today most all states participate in crime statistics. Years ago, not every state would turn in their crime reports, which effected the total percentage of crimes in the nation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Bureau of Justice Statistics report crime statistics. Police stations from all over the U.S. send their reports of crimes to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. For example, a police station will report to the FBI that they had twenty-one reports of robberies for the current year. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is a report that is used for the more serious crimes, such as forcible rape, murder, arson, etc. The UCR is calculated three different ways. The Federal Bureau of Investigation are specific about the number of how many incidences were reported for a certain crime. Also, when the FBI calculates the percentages of the crime reports for a crime and compares the crime rates and an examination is completed to tell if the crime rate has increased or decreased for the current year. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) also calculates the number of crimes out of one hundred thousand people. Another report the FBI creates is the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this report is an elaborated version of the UCR. It takes all the serious crimes from the Uniform Crime Reports and breaks them down into certain categories that creates more vivid reports. These reports are very well detailed and give more information about the crimes, like how many people were arrested. The National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is collected from police stations around the United States. The NIBRS is a report of basically incident reports. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) reports are the most used reports to view crime statistics in the United

After reading the information found on the FBI website about the National Incident Based Reporting System, I found that UCR, NIBRS, and NCVS all have their own strengths and differences but were similar in some ways. When it comes to the uniform crime report ( UCR ), people are able to compare crime rates between different places of their choosing which is strength. Within a year, the data gathered would be ready for the public which is a benefit for us. Every strength has a weakness however, and UCR’s is that it only covers crimes discovered by the police and it can be sometimes lacking in details.

As time progressed, a broad utility evolved for UCR data, and law enforcement expanded its capabilities to supply crime information. As of the late 1970s, the law enforcement community wanted a more thorough evaluative study of UCR and made a recommendation to expanded and enhance the UCR Program to meet law enforcement needs into the 21st century. Following the study "Blueprint for the Future of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program" was developed and new guidelines for Uniform Crime Reports were formulated. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was implemented to meet these

The some of the major differences between the NIBRS and NCVS is how they receive their information who tracks the information and how accurate the reporting is. “The NIBRS is an incident-based reporting system by law enforcement in which agencies collect data on each single crime occurrence. NIBRS data come from local, state, and federal automated records’ systems.” (NIBRS Oct 2015) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) stores the data .The NCVS is a national survey of randomly selected households

All that is required is for someone to believe that a crime actually took place.

The National Crime victimization Survey (NCVS) collects personal and household criminal data by a consistent ongoing survey. This program is useful for showing how many crimes happened that may have not have been reported to the police. Victims and criminals are a lot more likely to admit to a survey of criminal events that happened rather than to the police themselves. Unlike UCR and NIBRS, NCVS does not include detailed information nor does it provide any specific