Pros And Cons Of Uniform Crime Report

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The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is an official record of crime statistics maintained by the FBI. The local police department voluntarily participates by reporting the crimes that occur in their community. Some of the shortcomings of the UCR include the misrepresentation of recorded statistic, based on the victim surveys, only part of the crimes are reported. Secondly, most federal offenses such as victimless crimes and white-collar crimes are not recorded in the UCR. Changes in police administrations, also record- keeping procedures can cause a major effect on crime recording. The crime index is mainly made up of property crimes. The interpretation of UCR statistics and lastly demographic shift may cause an impact on crime rates. The UCR calculates …show more content…

In difference to the UCR the NIBRS records far more details on crime incidents, such as categorizing crime according to the relationship between victim-offender, use of alcohol or drugs or type of weapons used. Another method for collecting crime data would be by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This survey measures the crime victimization claimed by the general public. Like other statistical methods, NCVS has its shortcomings. This includes the expense of compiling large samples, false or mistaken reports, memory failure or decay, telescoping of events, sampling bias, overreporting or under reporting, interviewer effects and coding and mechanical errors. Self-Report measures is another method of measuring crime in society by collecting data of individuals admitting to criminal acts in form of anonymous questionnaires or surveys. Most of the time, the Self-Report surveys are conducted in schools or college populations. Validity is the accuracy of measurement questioning whether the measurements are true and …show more content…

Some of the shortcomings of the UCR include the misrepresentation of recorded statistic, most federal offenses such as victimless crimes and white-collar crimes are not recorded in the UCR. Changes in police administrations, also record- keeping procedures can cause a major effect on crime recording. The crime index is mainly made up of property crimes. The interpretation of UCR statistics and lastly demographic shift may cause an impact on crime rates. The UCR calculates crime rate by dividing Index crimes by population and multiplying the sum by 100,000 providing a combined measure of crime. The NIBRS is acronym for National Incident-Based Reporting System and provides far more details on crime incidents. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) measures the crime victimization claimed by the general public, its shortcomings include the expense of compiling large samples, false or mistaken reports, memory failure or decay, telescoping of events, sampling bias, overreporting or under reporting, interviewer effects and coding and mechanical errors. Self-Report measures crime by collecting data of individuals admitting to criminal acts in form of anonymous questionnaires or surveys, usually conducted in schools or college populations. Validity is the accuracy of measurement questioning, Reliability is the consistency or