Uniform Crime Report

Uniform Crime Report

"UCR is not reporting total crime, but, rather, a select list of crimes reported to the police"

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (2008) concludes that again,

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

(Understanding Florida's UCR data 2008)

Uniform Crime Reports

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report (UCR)… In the newspaper article, "Naperville's crime rate up, but still low," Matt Hanley (2009) concurs with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement quote introducing this paper that statistics, "According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, may not be deemed as conclusive as a number of various factors may impact the reported crime numbers. The FBI report stresses: "For example, one city may report more crime than a comparable one, not because there is more crime, but rather because its law enforcement agency, through proactive efforts, identifies more offenses" (Hanley, 2009, ¶ 7) The attitudes of citizens regarding crime, along with their specific crime-reporting practices, particularly relating to minor offenses, also impact the final reports.

This research paper which examines five consecutive years of statistics for two crime index offenses, violent crime and property crime, in Florida also notes trends, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. Violent crime includes murder and non-negligent homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crime denotes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. The researcher also compares trends reported in Florida to those the UCR notes nationwide.

History

The Uniform Crime Reports Web page (2009) published on the Federal Bureau of Investigation website purports that during 1927, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) formed the Committee on Uniform Crime Records to create a system for gathering uniform police statistics. Two years later, in 1929, IACP determined to create the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program to relate reliable, uniform crime statistics for the United States (U.S.). In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officially began the task of collecting, publishing, and archiving those crime statistics (The uniform crime…, N.d.; Uniform crime…, 2009). "Today, several annual statistical publications, such as the comprehensive Crime in the United States, are produced from data provided by nearly 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States" (Uniform crime…, 2009, ¶ 1). To present a view of crime in the U.S., the FBI compiles data that various city, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily submit. The monthly crime reports the agencies submit to a centralized storehouse within their particular state utilize uniform offense definitions.

To develop the UCR, the Committee on Uniform Crime Records initially determined that the number of offenses that law enforcement recognized, even if no arrest ensued, would constitute the most appropriate measure of criminality reported. After this, the Committee members assessed various crimes, based on "their seriousness, frequency of occurrence, pervasiveness in all geographic areas of the country, and likelihood of being reported to law enforcement" (The uniform crime…, N.d., APPENDIX I, ¶ 1). From this assessment, the Committee then identified the following seven crimes to be reported nationally:

Felonious homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary -- breaking or entering, larceny-theft, and auto theft. (Ibid.)

From the inception of the UCR, the Committee recognized that the differences among state criminal codes prohibited merely collecting state statistics to determine a national total. In addition, due to various punishments different state codes allocated for the same offenses, no distinction could be made between felony and misdemeanor crimes. "To avoid these problems and provide nationwide uniformity in crime reporting, the Committee formulated standardized offense definitions by which law enforcement agencies were to submit data without regard for local statutes" (Ibid.). As some of the data may be missing or unpublished, however, discrimination between certain statistics and reports may occur and affect the FBI's ability to accurately reflect true crime incidents in each area.

Understanding Florida's UCR data (2008, published on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Web site asserts that the reliability of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data constitutes an ongoing concern issue in criminology. In addition to the UCR, the National Crime Victimization Survey, serves as another principle instrument for measuring crime in the U.S. In the field of criminology, The consensus appears to be that the "real' amount of criminal activity lies between these two measures" (Understanding Florida's…, 2008, Reliability section, ¶ 1), as UCR numbers traditionally reflect the crimes the local agencies, such as the Sheriff Offices and Police Departments, report, not all offenses reported to the police.

Even though numerous factors impact the reports local agencies receive, over time, the offences reported to the UCR, indicate variations in crime trends. The UCR, albeit, does not serve as the ultimate measure of criminal activity. As noted at this paper's start, the researcher chose to examine the State of Florida for five consecutive years with regard to the crime rates, with particular focus on violent crime and property crime.

Violent Crime

"Property Crime" (2006) on the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation Web site defines both violent and property crime. The four offenses which constitute violent crime include murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The UCR program reports that violent crimes comprise those crimes which utilize either the threat of force or actual force (Violent Crime, 2006).

Property Crime

"Property Crime" (2006) reports that the UCR) Program explains that property crime denotes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The individuals implementing these theft-type offenses aim to obtain money or property without using any force or threatening to use force against the victims. "The property crime category includes arson because the offense involves the destruction of property; however, arson victims may be subjected to force. Because of limited participation and varying collection procedures by local agencies, only limited data are available for arson" (Property Crime, 2006, ¶ 1). Even though the UCR includes arson statistics in trend, clearance, and arrest tables, they are not indicated in the estimated volume data.

Table 1 depicts statistics noting five years of violent and property crimes occurring in Florida during 2003-2007.

Year

Population

Violent Crime

Property Crime

2003

16,999,181

124,280

757,696

2004

17,385,430

123,754

727,141

2005

17,768,191

125,957

712,998

2006

18,089,888

128,795

721,084

2007

18,251,243

131,880

746,347

Table 1: Statistics of Florida Violent/Property Crimes (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008, ¶ 1).

Figure 1 depicts percentages of Florida's 2003 violent crime rates; evolving from aggravated assault, robbery, forcible rape and murder.

Figure 1: Florida's 2003 Violent Crime Rates (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008).

The 2003 National violent crime rates included: Murder -- 1.2%; Forcible Rape -- 6.8%; Robbery -- 30%; Aggravated Assault -- 62.1% (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.). Compared to Florida's 2003 Violent Crime Rates, the murder rate, forcible rape and robbery rates are lower; however the aggravated assault rate is higher (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.).

Figure 2 depicts 2003 Florida property crime rates; evolving from burglary, larceny theft and vehicular theft.

Figure 2: 2003 Florida Violent Crime Rates (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008)

The National 2003 property crime rates included: Burglary rate -- 20.6%; Larceny theft rate -- 67.3%; Vehicular theft rate -- 12.1% (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.). Compared to Florida's 2003 Property Crime Rates, the larceny theft rate, vehicular theft rate are lower; however, the burglary rate is higher (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.).

Figure 3 depicts 2004 Florida violent crime statistics; evolving from aggravated assault, robbery, forcible rape and murder.

Figure 3: 2004 Florida Violent Crime Rates (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008).

The 2004 National violent crime rates included: Murder -- 1.2%; Forcible Rape -- 6.9%; Robbery -- 29.4%; Aggravated Assault -- 62.5%

Compared to Florida's 2004 violent crime rates, the murder rate and robbery rates are lower; however the aggravated assault and forcible rape rates are higher (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.).

Figure 4 depicts 2004 Florida property crime rates; evolving from burglary, larceny theft and vehicular theft.

Figure 4: 2004 Florida Property Crime Rates (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008)

The National 2004 property crime rates included: Burglary rate -- 20.8%; Larceny theft rate -- 67.3%; Vehicular theft rate -- 12%. Compared to Florida's 2004 property crime rates, the larceny theft rate, vehicular theft rate are lower; however the burglary rate is higher (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.).

Figure 5 depicts 2005 Florida violent crime statistics; evolving from aggravated assault, robbery, forcible rape and murder.

Figure 5: 2005 Florida Violent Crime Rates (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008).

The 2005 National violent crime rates included: Murder -- 1.2%; Forcible Rape -- 6.8%; Robbery -- 30%; Aggravated Assault -- 62%. Compared to Florida's 2005 Violent Crime Rates, the murder rate and robbery rates and forcible rates are lower; however the aggravated assault rate is higher (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.).

Figure 6 depicts 2005 Florida property crime rates; evolving from burglary, larceny theft and vehicular theft.

Figure 6: 2005 Florida Property Crime Rates (adapted from UCR crime statistics, 2008).

The National 2005 property crime rates included: Burglary rate -- 21.1%; Larceny theft rate -- 66.7%; Vehicular theft rate -- 12.2%. Compared to Florida's 2005 property crime rates, the larceny theft rate, vehicular theft rate are lower; however the burglary rate is higher (Uniform Crime Reports, N.d.).