Essay on The Three Major Crime Reporting Systems

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) stemmed from a mid-1980s report, is an incident-based reporting system (some states use a customized version) that is used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for the collecting and reporting of data on crimes that are known by police. NIBRS is the result of law enforcement thoroughly evaluating and modernizing the UCR (Uniform Crime Reports). The UCR, produced by the FBI, was initially developed by the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) in 1931 in which police departments across jurisdictions could exchange information in regards to crime. Local, state and federal agencies generate NIBRS data from their

One of the first problems that this system has to do with the “procedures that captures it,” and this leads to why we must be cautious about this methods. The procedure involves the crime to be initially reported to the police. This beginning procedure already has a problem, and according to James, the problem is, “the NIBRS collect data on the number of offenses known to law enforcement each year. However, not all crimes that occur are known to the police” (2). The procedure that is used in NIBRS to get the number of crimes begins initially with the crime being reported to

The Uniform Crime Report and the National Crime Victimization Survey were both developed to perform differently. The Uniform Crime Report was a program whose primary goals were to provide a reliable set of criminal justice statistics for law enforcement administration, operation, and management. The Uniform Crime Report was developed in 1929. It was developed by the International Associations of Chiefs of Police.

The two major sources of crime data used in the United States remain The Uniform Crime Reports and The National Incident-Based Reporting System. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) shows a statistical summary of crimes reported by the police each year. UCR was authorized in 1930 by Congress for the operation of compiling crime data. A reporting system in which police describe each offense in a crime incident including the data describing the offender, victim, and property is considered the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). NIBRS is put together by two groups: Group A and Group B. Group A consists of 22 specific crimes in reach of 46 offenses and 11 Group B offense categories exclusive for data reported for arrest.

The UCR, also known as the Uniform Crime Reports, is a report put out by the FBI that shows a series of data on crime. It is summary based and a group level of analysis. The FBI gets the information for the UCR through agencies/jurisdictions volunteering the information to them. Some of the positives about the UCR is that it can compare certain agencies and areas in which more crimes were committed. The UCR also is quick, efficient, and easy to acquire the information. One of the drawbacks for the UCR is that it does not encompass all the crimes reported to the police. Since providing the reports is voluntary, jurisdictions vary in the completeness of the data they sent. There can also be clerical or filing problems. Only the most serious crime

Although NIBRS and UCR seem alike they very in a bunch of different ways. They are both regulated by the FBI and used for the same general concepts however NIBRS goes into more ground detail that UCR. NIBRS has 46 Group A offenses and UCR only have 8 offenses. NIBRS differentiates between completed and attempted crimes, however, UCR does not. Another difference between the two are that Uniform Crime Reports only tend to report the most serious offense reported when multiple crimes are reported in the same period of events. Also, The National Incident-Bases Reporting System can be submitted electronically as Uniform Crime Reporting Data is a written document that has to be hand entered into the computer for

After reading the information found on the FBI website about the National Incident Based Reporting System, I found that UCR, NIBRS, and NCVS all have their own strengths and differences but were similar in some ways. When it comes to the uniform crime report ( UCR ), people are able to compare crime rates between different places of their choosing which is strength. Within a year, the data gathered would be ready for the public which is a benefit for us. Every strength has a weakness however, and UCR’s is that it only covers crimes discovered by the police and it can be sometimes lacking in details.

UCR or known as the Uniform crime reports is an annual report published by the FBI in the DOJ, which is meant to estimate most of the major street crimes in the United States.The main purpose of the UCR is basically to collect as many crimes or reliable crimes that come up as crime statistics so it can be used in our law enforcement administration. The Ucr is a very helpful tool for the law. The system was created in 1929. It provided information for criminologists,sociologists, and even the media. The Ucr mostly concentrates on assaults and robberies. The NIBRS or the national incident based reporting system is the system that the government uses for gathering data about recent or past crimes. The system has a lot of purposes but one of the main purposes’ is to evaluate the crimes associated with any current culture of violence theories.

As time progressed, a broad utility evolved for UCR data, and law enforcement expanded its capabilities to supply crime information. As of the late 1970s, the law enforcement community wanted a more thorough evaluative study of UCR and made a recommendation to expanded and enhance the UCR Program to meet law enforcement needs into the 21st century. Following the study "Blueprint for the Future of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program" was developed and new guidelines for Uniform Crime Reports were formulated. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was implemented to meet these

The annual National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) has been the primary method for gathering data and providing these staggering statistics. The NCVS provides information gathered from the victim, which includes information on crimes that went unreported to the police. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is also a valid reference for gathering crime information within the United States. The UCR only has information regarding crimes that were reported to the police, as well as arrests. Both forums are used by the FBI. In addition, researchers use this information for their research. Even Taylor and

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is one of the two ways crime rates are measured in the United States. The "Uniform Crime Reports" (n.d.) website, UCR is the starting place for law enforcement executives, criminal justice students, members of the media, researchers, and the public seeking information on crime in the nation. The idea of the program was conceived in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to meet the need for reliable

The Uniform Crime Reports can also be described as a summary reporting system (Criminal Justice Information Services Division, 2000. pg. 5). The National Incident-Based Reporting System is much more detailed in nature. When it comes to the offense recording, the hierarchy rule is used only in the UCR which only records one offense no matter if there were several crimes that occurred. However, the NIBRS records each crime even if they are part of one incident, therefore the hierarchy is not applied (Criminal Justice Information Services Division, 2000, pg. 13). UCR does not distinguish between completed and attempted crimes whereas the NIBRS does. When it comes to rapes, the UCR only classifies rapes against women where the NIBRS classifies rapes against men also (Rantala & Edwards, 2000, pg. 1). In collecting information on weapons, the UCR only collects it for murder, robbery, and aggravated assaults. The NIBRS collects weapon information on all crimes. Even though, both the UCR and NIBRS collects information on the 8 index crimes, the UCR only has another 21 offenses in contrast with NIBRS’s 49 offenses to collect information on. Under the hotel rule, the UCR only reports a theft at the hotel, whereas the NICRS also includes the detailed rooms at the hotel and also classifies storage facilities as part of this rule as well (Rantala & Edwards, 2000, pg. 5).

The UCR is able to provide the number of crimes that have been reported to law enforcement agencies.

The Uniform Crime Report, which was developed in the 1930s, is commonly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a record of crimes committed all across the United States. These crimes, which fall under two categories, Part I and Part II offenses, are reported by local police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation each year. Part I offenses are considered to be the more serious of crimes recognized by society. Such examples of this are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, etc. Part II offenses are those that are considered less serious, such as fraud, simple assault, drug abuse, gambling, stolen property, embezzlement, etc. Part I crimes can also be subdivided into what are known as violent crimes and

Crime measurement and statistics for police departments are very important when it comes to money allotment, staffing needs or termination and it is also used to determine the effectiveness of new laws and programs. There are three tools used to measure major crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports, National Crime Victimization Survey and the National Incident Based Reporting System- which is currently being tested to replace the Uniform Crime Reports. Although there different tools used to measure crime, crime rates can be deceiving. Each different tool reports a different type of rate, crime rates, arrest