Crime Statistics Goes Far Beyond Mere Tables,

¶ … crime statistics goes far beyond mere tables, numbers, techniques and formulas. Through the effective use of this information it is possible to garner a greater understanding of the individuals who make up the criminal world, the types of crimes that these criminals participate in, and how best to control crime (McDonald, 2002). In the United States there are two primary sources for crime data. The first source is done through the auspices of the law enforcement agencies and collected through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the second source is done less formally through the National Crime Survey. Neither reporting source is able to provide a complete picture of the crime situation in the country due to the fact that a majority of crime, for a variety of reasons, goes unreported.

The reporting system utilized by the FBI is done through the processing of crimes through the various police departments and court systems throughout the country. For the most part the FBI system only reports on crimes that reach the enforcement level but experts argue that the majority of crime that occurs in America goes totally unreported and never involves the police or the courts. The crimes that never reach this stage are those that are typically reported through the National Crime Survey. These are the type of crimes where victims view the event as a personal matter or of such a minor matter that involvement with the law enforcement system is considered an inconvenience. The two reporting systems provide a valuable measuring tool but the system provided by the FBI is likely a more accurate reflection of the actual state of crime in America as the police and courts act as a natural filtering method. Although the system does not measure the full extent of crime in the U.S. It does measure the most serious crimes and thereby affords an overview of the situation. The National Crime Survey method is far more dependent on self-reporting and lacks the natural filtering of the FBI system.

Despite the fact that the available crime statistics do not provide a full picture of the status of crime in America they do provide a partial insight into existing trends. The statistics that are available, whether from the FBI or the National Crime Survey, indicate that violent and property crimes are at record lows in the United States. This decrease, which followed a two-decade increase that began in the mid 1960s, is encouraging to law enforcement agencies. Interestingly, despite the fact that statistics indicate that crime has been on the decline in the United States for the past two decades, the public's perception is that crime remains on the rise (Dowler, 2003). The reasons for this misperception are not clearly known. Many studies have been conducted in an effort to discover why this perception continues but, to date, no clear consensus as to the reasons has been reached. Since the late 1960s, the public has been overly concerned about the level of crime in America and despite overwhelming statistical evidence to the contrary the public seems unable to let go of its perception that crime is a major problem.