The Uniform Crime Reports, the National Crime Victimization Survey, and Juvenile Court Statistics are all official sources and measurements of criminal activity. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is a classification system that lists crimes that are annually committed. These figures are voluntarily reported by law enforcement agencies. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) allows individuals to answer questions about their victimizations, even those that were not reported to the police, therefore providing a more accurate measure of crime. “Juvenile Court Statistics were developed to show what happens to juveniles who come to the attention of authorities (Bartollas and Miller, 2011, page 31).” Juvenile Court Statistics accomplishes three things: it
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When compared to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the UCR reported less than half the amount of crime. Due to the fact that the National Crime Victimization Survey gathers its data primarily from citizens, some mistakes may be made. For example, some of the respondents may not be clear on what constitutes a certain crime, and they might mislabel the offense. Another possibility is that individuals may only remember the more severe crimes that have taken place and do not account for lesser crimes. A major limitation of Juvenile Court Statistics is that it takes an extended amount of time to publish the statistics that were collected, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of this system. I believe that the most reliable source of obtaining information on offenses committed by juveniles is through the use of Victimization Surveys. Specifically, the National Crime Victimization Survey appears to be the most dependable out of these sources because the amount of crime reported is more than double of that of the other sources. The NCVS includes not only crime that has been reported, but also crime that has not been publicized, which makes it more
When compared to the National Crime Victimization Survey, the UCR reported less than half the amount of crime. Due to the fact that the National Crime Victimization Survey gathers its data primarily from citizens, some mistakes may be made. For example, some of the respondents may not be clear on what constitutes a certain crime, and they might mislabel the offense. Another possibility is that individuals may only remember the more severe crimes that have taken place and do not account for lesser crimes. A major limitation of Juvenile Court Statistics is that it takes an extended amount of time to publish the statistics that were collected, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of this system. I believe that the most reliable source of obtaining information on offenses committed by juveniles is through the use of Victimization Surveys. Specifically, the National Crime Victimization Survey appears to be the most dependable out of these sources because the amount of crime reported is more than double of that of the other sources. The NCVS includes not only crime that has been reported, but also crime that has not been publicized, which makes it more