The Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey are two ways statistics are collected on crime. The UCR was developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police but is actually put together by the FBI from monthly law enforcement reports. The results are four annual publications with input of reports from 18,000 city, university, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies. The NCVS is compiled from interviews of sample households where everyone 12 and older is given a chance to detail crimes against them whether they were reported to law enforcement or not.
These two reporting systems measure many of the same crimes, but some are described differently. The UCR collects information on murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, …show more content…
For instance, burglary is defined differently in the NCVS so that a victim does not have to guess the offender’s plan for entering his or her residence; for the purpose of the NCVS report, a burglar only had to be in the residence when they shouldn’t without the intent being described. The reports calculate crime with NCR using a “per capita” while the NCVS is “per household.”
I feel that the system could be improved if the reports both covered the same exact crimes, and that the descriptions of the crimes were as similar as possible. I feel that the calculations should be based on either per capita or per household, so that it is comparing apples to apples. Rape at this point is only reported on the UCR as rape against women only; I feel that rape should be included on the UCR whether it is against a man, woman or child. I feel that crimes against children under 12 should be reported on both reports. I believe that these changes would make the reports even more helpful and
These two reporting systems measure many of the same crimes, but some are described differently. The UCR collects information on murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, …show more content…
For instance, burglary is defined differently in the NCVS so that a victim does not have to guess the offender’s plan for entering his or her residence; for the purpose of the NCVS report, a burglar only had to be in the residence when they shouldn’t without the intent being described. The reports calculate crime with NCR using a “per capita” while the NCVS is “per household.”
I feel that the system could be improved if the reports both covered the same exact crimes, and that the descriptions of the crimes were as similar as possible. I feel that the calculations should be based on either per capita or per household, so that it is comparing apples to apples. Rape at this point is only reported on the UCR as rape against women only; I feel that rape should be included on the UCR whether it is against a man, woman or child. I feel that crimes against children under 12 should be reported on both reports. I believe that these changes would make the reports even more helpful and