|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Article |
|
Summary of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program |
|
Historical
Background
Offenses
in Uniform Crime Reporting
|
|
|
|
The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is a nationwide, cooperative
statistical effort of more than 17,000 city, county, and state
law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought
to their attention. During 2002, law enforcement agencies active
in the UCR Program represented 93.4 percent of the total population
as established by the Bureau of Census. The coverage amounted to
94.3 percent of the United States population in Metropolitan Statistical
Areas (MSAs), 89.9 percent of the population in cities outside
metropolitan areas, and 89.5 percent in rural counties.
Since 1930, the FBI has administered the Uniform Crime Reporting
Program and issued periodic assessments of the nature and type
of crime in the Nation. The Program's primary objective is to generate
a reliable set of criminal statistics for use in law enforcement
administration, operation, and management; however, its data have
over the years become one of the country's leading social indicators.
The American public looks to Uniform Crime Reports for information
on fluctuations in the level of crime, and criminologists, sociologists,
legislators, municipal planners, the media, and other students
of criminal justice use the statistics for varied research and
planning purposes.
|
|
United States map showing percent of population affected
by murders for the year 2002, by county. National Atlas of the
United States®.
Source: National Archive of Criminal Justice Data |
|
back
to top |
|
Historical Background |
|
Recognizing a need for national crime statistics, the International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) formed the Committee on
Uniform Crime Records in the 1920s to develop a system of uniform
police statistics. Establishing offenses known to law enforcement
as the appropriate measure, the Committee evaluated various crimes
on the basis of their seriousness, frequency of occurrence, pervasiveness
in all geographic areas of the country, and likelihood of being
reported to law enforcement. After studying state criminal codes
and making an evaluation of the recordkeeping practices in use,
the Committee completed a plan for crime reporting that became
the foundation of the UCR Program in 1929.
Seven main classifications of crime were chosen to gauge fluctuations
in the overall volume and rate of crime. These seven classifications
that eventually became known as the Crime Index included the violent
crimes of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape,
robbery, and aggravated assault and the property crimes of burglary,
larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. By congressional mandate,
arson was added as the eighth Index offense in 1979. |
|
United States map showing percent of population affected by larcenies
for the year 1995, by county. National Atlas of the United States®.
Source: National Archive of Criminal Justice Data |
|
During the early planning of the Program, it was recognized that
the differences among criminal codes precluded a mere aggregation
of state statistics to arrive at a national total. Further, because
of the variances in punishment for the same offenses in different
state codes, no distinction between felony and misdemeanor crimes
was possible. To avoid these problems and provide nationwide uniformity
in crime reporting, standardized offense definitions by which law
enforcement agencies were to submit data without regard for local
statutes were formulated. The definitions used by the Program are
listed below.
In January 1930, 400 cities representing 20 million inhabitants
in 43 states began participating in the UCR Program. Congress enacted
Title 28, Section 534, of the United States Code authorizing the
Attorney General to gather crime information that same year. The
Attorney General, in turn, designated the FBI to serve as the national
clearinghouse for the data collected. Since that time, data based
on uniform classifications and procedures for reporting have been
obtained from the Nation's law enforcement agencies every year. |
|
back
to top |
|
Offenses in Uniform Crime Reporting |
|
The Uniform Crime Reporting Program classifies offenses into two
groups, Part I and Part II crimes. Each month, contributing
agencies submit information on the number of Part I offenses (Crime
Index) known to law enforcement; those offenses cleared by arrest
or exceptional means; and the age, sex, and race of persons arrested. Contributors
provide only arrest data for Part II offenses. The National Atlas
only maps Part 1 offenses.
The Part I offenses, those that comprise the Crime Index due to
their seriousness and frequency, are defined below:
Criminal homicide—a.) Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter:
the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.
Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill,
suicides, and accidental deaths are excluded. The Program classifies
justifiable homicides separately and limits the definition to:
(1) the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the
line of duty; or (2) the killing of a felon, during the commission
of a felony, by a private citizen. b.) Manslaughter by negligence:
the killing of another person through gross negligence. Traffic
fatalities are excluded. While manslaughter by negligence
is a Part I crime, it is not included in the Crime Index.
Forcible rape—The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly
and against her will. Rapes by force and attempts or assaults
to rape regardless of the age of the victim are included. Statutory
offenses (no force used—victim under age of consent) are
excluded.
Robbery—The taking or attempting to take anything of value
from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force
or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in
fear.
Aggravated assault—An unlawful attack by one person upon
another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily
injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the
use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily
harm. Simple assaults are excluded.
Burglary (breaking or entering)—The unlawful entry of a
structure to commit a felony or a theft. Attempted forcible
entry is included.
Larceny-theft (except motor vehicle theft)—The unlawful
taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the
possession or constructive possession of another. Examples
are thefts of bicycles or automobile accessories, shoplifting,
pocket-picking, or the stealing of any property or article which
is not taken by force and violence or by fraud. Attempted
larcenies are included. Embezzlement, confidence games, forgery,
worthless checks, etc., are excluded.
Motor vehicle theft—The theft or attempted theft of a motor
vehicle. A motor vehicle is self-propelled and runs on the
surface and not on rails. Motorboats, construction equipment,
airplanes, and farming equipment are specifically excluded from
this category.
Arson—Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn,
with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building,
motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
|
|
|
|
Adapted from Crime
in the United States 2002 – Section I and Appendix II, FBI,
October 2003.
|
|
back
to top |
|