CJ 101 Lesson 2

Chapter 2: Crime, Offenders, and Victims

Sources of Crime Data

Sources of Crime Data:

1.      Aggregate record data: Official records are compiled and evaluated. E.g., FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).

2.      Surveys: Randomly selected persons are surveyed. E.g., National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).

3.      Other: Observation, interviews, life history studies.

FBI UCR:

1. Violent Crime (involve force or threat of force):

·        Murder/Nonnegligent Manslaughter

·        Rape (forcible)

·        Robbery

·        Assault (aggravated)

2. Property Crime:

·        Burglary

·        Larceny/theft

·        Auto theft

·        Arson

(Formerly FBI classified crimes as index and non-index crimes)

1.      Part I Offenses (or Index Crimes):

·        Murder/Manslaughter

·        Robbery

·        Assault (aggravated)

·        Rape (forcible)

·        Burglary

·        Larceny/theft

·        Auto theft

·        Arson

2.      Part II Offenses (or non-index crimes): All other crimes such as misdemeanors, other sex crimes, forgeries, drug offenses. This category does not include traffic violations.

Expressing Crime Data

·        Raw Data- Total crimes

• Crime rate: Total number of reported crimes (raw data) per 100,000 population           

Clearance Rates

Clearance rates are a measure of the effectiveness of police agencies.

If a reported crime results in at least one arrest, the crime is considered “cleared by arrest” or “solved”.

National clearance rates (Based on figures from FBI UCR, 2003):        

• Violent crimes- 46.5% clearance rate
• Murder- 62.5%
• Forcible rapes- 44.0%
• Robberies- 26.3%
• Aggravated assaults- 55.9%
• Property crimes- 16.4% clearance rate
• Burglary- 13.1%
• Larceny/theft- 18.0%
• Auto theft- 13.1%
• Arson- 16.7

Violent crimes are more likely to be cleared by arrest than property crimes because:

• More likely to be quickly reported and given higher priority by police
• Perpetrator is known by victim in more cases

Factors affecting accuracy of UCR data:

• Most crimes not reported
• Delay in reporting
• Decision making by police

Other Sources of Crime Information

FBI National Incident Reporting System (NIBRS): A detailed, computer based incident reporting system administered by the FBI that includes 48 “Group A” offenses representing 22 categories of crimes

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): Ongoing survey of approximately 49,000 households regarding crime. Data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

NCVS 2000 results indicate-

·Only 48% of all violent crime is reported to police

·Only 36% of property crime is reported to police

Crime Volume

Factors Affecting Crime Volume (Source: UCR, 2003):

• Population density and degree of urbanization.

• Variations in composition of the population, particularly youth concentration.

• Stability of population with respect to residents’ mobility, commuting patterns, and transient factors.

• Modes of transportation and highway system.

• Economic conditions, including median income, poverty level, and job availability.

• Cultural factors and educational, recreational, and religious characteristics.

• Family conditions with respect to divorce and family cohesiveness.

• Climate.

• Effective strength of law enforcement agencies.

• Administrative and investigative emphases of law enforcement.

• Policies of other components of the criminal justice system (i.e., prosecutory, judicial, correctional, and probational).

• Citizens’ attitudes toward crime.

• Crime reporting practices of the citizenry.

Trends/Patterns

Crime trends: Generally, crime rates have increased in both violent and property crimes since the 1930s. There was a dramatic increase in crime during 60s and 70s. Rates began to taper off in 80s and even declined in 90s and into the 21st century.

Crime rates are generally higher in (Source UCR, 2003):

·Urban/high poverty areas

·Summer

·West and South

Arrest trends (Source UCR, 2003):

·More males arrested than females

·Rate of female arrests growing faster than male

§         Male since 1999: -5.2

§         Female since 1999: +2.8

·Arrests: 71% white/27% black

·Peak age groups for:

§         Violent crime- 18

§         Property crime- 16

Types of Crime

Violent crime:

·Murder and non-negligent homicide (willful killing of a human being)

·Robbery (use or threatened use of force in commission of a theft)

·Aggravated assault (intentional use of force to cause physical injury)

·Forcible rape (sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion)

Property crime:

·        Burglary (entering or remaining unlawfully in a building or dwelling with the intent to commit a crime)

·        Larceny/theft (unlawful taking or depriving another of their property)

·        Auto theft (larceny of an auto)

·        Arson (intentional damaging of a building or dwelling by fire)

Hate crime: As defined in the federal criminal code, a crime "that manifests evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, including where appropriate the crimes of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation, arson, and destruction, damage or vandalism of property."

Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 established guidelines for reporting hate crime.

Factors Affecting Victimization

Gender:

·        Males more likely to be robbed/victims of aggravated assaults

·        Women more likely to be victims of domestic abuse (2/3 of attacks by husband, boyfriend, family member or familiar person).

·        Two-thirds of sexual assaults, victim knows perpetrator

Age:

·        Young people more likely to be victimized

Income:

·        Poor more likely to be victimized

Marital status:

·        Unmarried more likely to be victimized

Race:

·        Blacks experience higher violent crime rates than other groups

·        Hispanics more often victimized by violent crime than non-Hispanics

Ecology:

·        More likely to be victimized in urban area, b/t hours of 6p-6a

·        Most likely areas for rapes, robberies, and assaults are open/outside areas such as the street, fields, and parks.

·        10% of youth b/t 12-19 victimized on school grounds, NCVS

Relationship:

·        50% of violent crimes committed by persons known to victims

·        69% of rape victims knew their assailants

·        Violence in form of murder/assault often preceded by social interaction

·        Violent episodes more often results when both victim and offender prone to violence

Other:

·        Prior victimization is a strong predictor of future victimization.

Many states have legislation establishing procedures and provisions for crime victims’ compensation. E.g., KRS 346