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Chapter 2 The Crime Picture

Chapter 2 The Crime Picture. Learning Objectives. Name and describe the two major national crime data-gathering programs in the United States Explain what crime statistics can tell us about crime in America

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Chapter 2 The Crime Picture

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  1. Chapter 2The Crime Picture

  2. Learning Objectives • Name and describe the two major national crime data-gathering programs in the United States • Explain what crime statistics can tell us about crime in America • Discuss the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports and Crime Index, and list eight major crimes that make up the index • Explain why crime statistics are generally expressed as rates instead of simple numerical tabulations

  3. Learning Objectives • Explain the hierarchy rule, and discuss how it affects crime reporting • Discuss the meaning of the term “clearance rate” • Explain how the National Incident-Based Reporting System operates • Identify the special categories of crime discussed in this chapter

  4. Crime in America • Real-life crime victims lead intricate lives; yet, their victimization at the hands of criminal offenders is routinely recorded only as a numerical count in statistical reports. • Web Extras 2-1 and 2-2 • Hear author discuss the chapter.

  5. Crime Data and Social Policy • Decision makers at all levels throughout the criminal justice system rely on crime data: • To analyze and evaluate existing programs, • To fashion and design new crime-control initiatives, • To develop funding requests, and • To plan new laws and crime-control legislation.

  6. The Collection of Crime Data • Crime statistics come from two major sources. • Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is: • National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is: An annual FBI publication that summarizes the incidence and rate of reported crimes throughout the United States. An annual survey of selected American households conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to determine the extent of criminal victimization in the United States.

  7. The Collection of Crime Data • Other sources of crime data include: • Self-reports based on surveys that ask respondents about their criminal activities. • The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice published by the BJS. • Web Extra 2-3 • Library Extra 2-1

  8. Uniform Crime Reports • In 1930, Congress authorized the United States Attorney General to survey crime in America. • The FBI was designated to implement the program. • The FBI built on earlier efforts of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

  9. Uniform Crime Reports • Today, approximately 16,000 law enforcement agencies voluntarily provide crime data for the program. • Crime index refers to: • It is a useful tool for geographic and historical comparisons because it uses rates. An inclusive measure of the violent and property crime categories or Part I offenses of the UCR.

  10. The Criminal Justice Funnel

  11. UCR Historical Trends • Most UCR information is reported as a rate of crime. • Three major crime shifts: • 1940s: Crime decreased due to the large number of young men who entered military service in World War II. • 1960-1990: Crime increased due to the baby boom post World War II. • 1991-2003: Crime decreased due to economic and demographic changes (Library Extra 2-2). crimes 100,000 population Crime Index =

  12. Actual and Projected Rates 1950—2010

  13. UCR Terminology • The crime clock is calculated yearly as a shorthand way of diagramming crime frequency in the United States. • It should be viewed with care because it implies a regularity to crime that, in reality, does not exist. • It is also not rate based.

  14. The FBI Crime Clock, 2003

  15. UCR Terminology • Violent crime refers to: • Property crime refers to: • Clearance rate refers to: A UCR offense category that includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. A UCR offense category that includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. A measure that compares the number of crimes reported or discovered to the number of crimes solved through arrest or other means.

  16. Crimes Cleared by Arrest, 2003

  17. Major Crimes Known to the Police, 2003 (UCR Part I Offenses)

  18. VIOLENT CRIME Murder Rape Robbery Aggravated assault PROPERTY CRIME Burglary Larceny/theft Motor vehicle theft Arson Part I Offenses/Index Crimes

  19. Part I Offenses • Murder refers to: • Murder is the generic term that may include: first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter. • Smallest numerical category of Part I offense. • Geographically most common in the south. • Firearms are the weapon of choice in most murders. • Few murders are committed by strangers. The unlawful killing of a human being.

  20. Forcible Rape • Rape refers to: • Forcible rape refers to: • Sexual battery refers to: Unlawful sexual intercourse, achieved through force and without consent. The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Intentional and wrongful physical contact with a person, without his or her consent, that entails a sexual component or purpose.

  21. Forcible Rape • Date rape refers to: • Current knowledge: • Holds that forcible rape is often a planned crime that serves the offender’s need for power rather than sexual gratification. • It is the least reported violent crime. • Most rapes are committed by acquaintances. • Web Extra 2-5 • Library Extra 2-3 Unlawful forced sexual intercourse with a female against her will that occurs within the context of a dating relationship.

  22. Rate of Reported Rape, 1960-2003

  23. Robbery • Robbery refers to: • Common subtypes • Highway robbery • Strong-arm robbery • Armed robbery The unlawful taking or attempted taking of property that is in the immediate possession of another by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

  24. Aggravated Assault • Assault refers to: • Aggravated assault refers to: An unlawful attack by one person upon another. The unlawful, intentional inflicting, or attempted or threatened inflicting, of serious injury upon the person of another.

  25. Burglary • Burglary refers to: • Burglary can be reported to the UCR if: • An unlawful entry of an unlocked structure has occurred, • A breaking and entry has taken place, or • A burglary has been attempted. Unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft; the use of force to gain entry is not required.

  26. Larceny-Theft • Larceny-theft refers to: • Types of larceny: The unlawful taking or attempted taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.

  27. Identity Theft • Identity theft refers to: • It is a special kind of larceny that affects 500,000 victims annually. • Web Extra 2-6 • Library Extra 2-4 A crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of information, such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers, to obtain credit, merchandise, and services in the name of the victim.

  28. Motor Vehicle Theft • Motor vehicle theft refers to: • Most occurrences of motor vehicle theft are reported to law enforcement agencies. • Insurance companies require police reports. • Carjacking • Stealing a car while it is occupied. • Akin to robbery or kidnapping. The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.

  29. Arson • Arson refers to: • Arson was added to the UCR Crime Index by Congress in 1979. • Many law enforcement agencies have not yet begun giving regular arson data to the FBI. • Any change in the index offenses produces a Crime Index that will not permit meaningful comparisons. The burning or attempted burning of property with or without the intent to defraud.

  30. Part II Offenses • Part II Offenses refer to: • These are generally less serious crimes. • Part II data are for reported arrests. A set of UCR categories used to report arrests for less serious offenses.

  31. UCR Part II Offenses, 2003

  32. UCR Part II Offenses, 2003 (cont.)

  33. NIBRS: The New UCR • National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) refers to: • The FBI began accepting crime data in NIBRS format in January 1989. • NIBRS data will soon replace the UCR. An incident-based reporting system that collects data on every single crime occurrence.

  34. NIBRS: The New UCR • There have been some comparisons of UCR and NIBRS data. • Web Extras 2-7 and 2-8 • BJS provides a NIBRS information website. • Web Extra 2-9

  35. Campus Crime • Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act (1990), required college campuses to begin publishing annual security reports in September 1992. Campus crime, 2000 (Web Extra 2-10) (Library Extra 2-5)

  36. Differences between the UCR and NIBRS

  37. Differences between the UCR and NIBRS

  38. The National Crime Victimization Survey • Began operation in 1972. • The NCVS was designed to estimate the occurrence of all crimes, including unreported. • Dark figure of crime refers to: • Library Extras 2-6 and 2-7 Crime that is not reported to the police and that remains unknown to officials.

  39. National Crime Victimization Survey • Highlights: • 15% of households are touched by crime every year. • 24 million victimizations are reported to the NCVS every year. • City residents are almost twice as likely as rural residents to be crime victims. • About half of all violent crimes, and slightly more than one-third of all property crimes, are reported to police.

  40. National Crime Victimization Survey • Highlights: • Victims of crime are more often men than women. • Younger people are more likely than the elderly to be crime victims. • Blacks are more likely than whites or members of other racial groups to be victims of violent crimes. • Violent victimization rates are highest among people in lower-income families.

  41. National Crime Victimization Survey • Crime trends: • In 2002, NCVS crime rates reached their lowest since initiation of the survey. • 1993-2002: violent crime rates dropped 54%. • Many tend to believe self-reports over official police data. • NCVS data: Web Extra 2-11

  42. Comparison of UCR and NCVS Data, 2003

  43. Comparison of UCR and NCVS Data, 2003

  44. Comparison of UCR and NCVS

  45. Comparison of UCR and NCVS

  46. Comparison of UCR and NCVS

  47. Problems with the UCR and NCVS • UCR Problems • Based only on reported crime • May be afraid to report • May not believe police can do anything • May have a faulty memory of the reported crime • Agency bureaucracy may lead to change in data • Some types of crimes are reported more than others • Only includes data the creators deem relevant

  48. Problems with the UCR and NCVS • NCVS Problems • Relies on door-to-door surveys • Excludes information from more reclusive respondents • May be afraid to report crime, even to interviewers • May invent victimizations • No attempt is made to validate the data • Only includes data the creators deem relevant • Web Extra 2-12

  49. Special Categories of Crime • Crime typology refers to: • Social relevance is a central distinguishing feature of any meaningful typology. A classification of crimes along a particular dimension, such as legal categories, offender motivation, victim behavior, or offender characteristics.

  50. Crimes against Women • Statistics show that women are victimized less frequently than men in every major personal crime category, except rape. • Violent victimization: • 56 per 1,000 males age 12 or older • Injury: 22% • 39 per 1,000 females • Injury: 29% • Women tend to alter their lifestyles. • It is the number one health problem facing women in America.

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