Chapter 2 The Crime Picture Learning Objectives

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

• 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

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

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.

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.

The Collection of Crime Data

• Crime statistics come from two major sources.

• Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is:
• National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is:

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

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).

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.

The Criminal Justice Funnel

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).

Actual and Projected Rates 1950—2010

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.

The FBI Crime Clock, 2003

UCR Terminology

• Violent crime refers to:

• Property crime refers to:

• Clearance rate refers to:

Crimes Cleared by Arrest, 2003

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

Part I Offenses/Index Crimes

• VIOLENT CRIME

• Murder

• Rape

• Robbery

• Aggravated assault

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.

Forcible Rape

• Rape refers to:

• Forcible rape refers to:

• Sexual battery refers to:

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

Rate of Reported Rape, 1960-2003

Robbery

• Robbery refers to:

• Common subtypes

• Highway robbery
• Strong-arm robbery
• Armed robbery

Aggravated Assault

• Assault refers to:

• Aggravated assault refers to:

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.

Larceny-Theft

• Larceny-theft refers to:

• Types of larceny:

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

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.

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.

Part II Offenses

• Part II Offenses refer to:

• These are generally less serious crimes.

• Part II data are for reported arrests.

UCR Part II Offenses, 2003

UCR Part II Offenses, 2003 (cont.)

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.

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

Campus Crime

• Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act (1990), required college campuses to begin publishing annual security reports in September 1992.

• Campus crime, 2000

Differences between the UCR and NIBRS

Differences between the UCR and NIBRS

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

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.

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.

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

Comparison of UCR and NCVS Data, 2003

Comparison of UCR and NCVS Data, 2003

Comparison of UCR and NCVS

Comparison of UCR and NCVS

Comparison of UCR and NCVS

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

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

Special Categories of Crime

• Crime typology refers to:

• Social relevance is a central distinguishing feature of any meaningful typology.

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.

Crimes against Women

• Stalking refers to:

• Most cases involve stalking by former intimates.

• Most victims are women; most stalkers are men.

• Stalkers are generally motivated by a desire to control the victim.

Crimes against Women

• National Violence Against Women Survey

• Physical assault is widespread among American women.
• 1.9 million women are physically assaulted in the United States each year.
• Of those reporting rape, 22% were under 12 years old, and 32% were between 12 and 17 years old when they were first raped.
• Native American and Alaska Native women were most likely to report rape and physical assault.
• Women report significantly more partner violence than do men.

Crimes against Women

• National Violence Against Women Survey

• Violence against women is primarily partner violence.
• Women are significantly more likely than men to be injured during an assault.
• Stalking is more prevalent than previously thought.
• Library Extra 2-8
• Web Extra 2-13

Crimes against Women

• Cyberstalking refers to:

• Cyberstalkers may be across the street or across the country.

• It is easier to encourage third parties to stalk the victim.

• Fewer barriers to harassment and threats.

Crimes against the Elderly

• Older victims rarely appear in the crime statistics.

• Elderly crime victims are more likely to:

• Be victims of property crime
• Face offenders who are are armed with guns.
• Be victimized by strangers.
• Be victimized in or near their homes during daylight hours.
• Report their victimization to the police.
• Be physically injured.

• Web Extras 2-14 and 2-15

Hate Crime

• Hate crime refers to:

• Protected groups under the law vary according to federal and state government.
• Most hate crimes consist of intimidation, vandalism, simple assault, or aggravated assault.
• Library Extras 2-9 and 2-10

Motivation of Hate Crime Offenders, 2003

Corporate and White Collar Crime

• Corporate crime refers to:

• White-collar crime refers to:

Corporate and White Collar Crime

• Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002:

• Created tough provisions to deter and punish corporate and accounting fraud and corruption and to protect the interests of workers and shareholders.

• Web Extras 2-16 and 2-17

Organized Crime

• Organized crime refers to:

• Transnational organized crime refers to:

Gun Control

• In a typical year, approximately 10,000 murders are committed in the United States with firearms.

• 18% of state prison inmates and 15% of federal prison inmates were armed at the time of the crime.

• Government response:

• Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
• National ballistics fingerprinting requirement

• Library Extra 2-11

• Web Extras 2-18 and 2-19

Drug Crime

• Drug crimes are not included in the UCR Crime Index.

• Drugs and other forms of crime are often found together.

• Drug abuse is linked to other serious crimes.

• Criminal justice system costs associated with handling drug offenders has increased substantially.

• In 1984, there were 11,854 defendants.
• In 2001, there were 40,000 defendants.

Drug Arrests in the United States 1975—2003

High Technology and Computer Crime

• Computer crime refers to:

• Software piracy refers to:

• Computer virus refers to:

• Web Extra 2-20

Terrorism

• Terrorism refers to:

• Domestic terrorism refers to:

Terrorism

• International terrorism refers to:

• Cyberterrorism refers to:

• Library Extras 2-13 and 2-14

• Web Extras 2-21 and 2-22