BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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The Nation's Two Crime Measures

  • BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)- reported and unreported crime from the victim's perspective.
  • FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) - crimes reported by law enforcement

Similar to many other indicators used to assess conditions in the United States, these two indicators of crime complement each other to produce a more comprehensive portrait of the nation's crime problem.

Some of the differences between UCR and NCVS are—

  UCR NCVS
Geographic coverage National & state estimates, local agency reports National estimates
Collection method Reports by law enforcement to the FBI on a monthly basis Survey of as many as 90,000 households and 160,000 individuals age 12 or older.
Measures Index crimes* reported by law enforcement Reported and unreported crime; details about the crimes, victims, and offenders

*seven serious crimes

For more information about the purposes and advantages of the UCR and the NCVS, see The Nation's Two Crime Measures.

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Data Collections & Surveys

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Publications & Products


Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009-2014 - Statistical Tables Presents estimates of nonfatal violent crime (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) against persons age 12 or older with disabilities.
  Summary (PDF 138K) | PDF (662K) | ASCII file (46K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 25K)
Part of the Crime Against People with Disabilities Series

Criminal Victimization, 2015 Presents national rates and levels of criminal victimization in 2015 and annual change from 2014.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 203K) | PDF (818K) | ASCII file (47K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 13K)
Part of the Criminal Victimization Series

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2015 Presents data on crime and safety at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, and principals.
  PDF (4M) | Tables (available at NCES) (Other)
Part of the Indicators of School Crime and Safety Series

Criminal Victimization, 2014 Presents 2014 estimates of rates and levels of criminal victimization in the United States.
  Press Release | PDF (745KB) | ASCII file (42KB) | Comma Separated Values (CSV) (Zip format)
Part of the Criminal Victimization Series

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2014 Presents data on crime and safety at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, and principals.
  Summary (PDF 172K) | Full Report (PDF 3.2M)
Part of the Indicators of School Crime and Safety Series

Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009–2013 - Statistical Tables Presents estimates of nonfatal violent victimization (rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault) against persons age 12 or older with disabilities from 2009 to 2013.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 247K) | Full report (PDF 532K) | ASCII file (37K) | Comma-delimited format (.csv) (Zip format 32K)
Part of the Crime Against People with Disabilities Series

Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009-2013 - Statistical Tables VIOLENT CRIME RATE IN 2013 AGAINST PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WAS MORE THAN DOUBLE THE AGE-ADJUSTED RATE FOR PERSONS WITHOUT DISABILITIES
  Press Release

Local Police Departments, 2013: Personnel, Policies, and Practices PERCENTAGE OF LOCAL POLICE OFFICERS WHO WERE RACIAL OR ETHNIC MINORITIES NEARLY DOUBLED BETWEEN 1987 AND 2013
  Press Release

Rape and Sexual Assault Among College-age Females, 1995-2013 Compares the characteristics of rape and sexual assault victimization against females ages 18 to 24 who are enrolled and not enrolled in college.
  Press Release | PDF (535K) | ASCII file (53K) | Comma-delimited format (csv) (Zip format)

Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violent Victimization, 2008–2012 Presents findings from 2008 to 2012 on the relationship between households that were above or below the federal poverty level and nonfatal violent victimization, including rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault.
  Press Release | PDF (2.2M) | ASCII file (38K) | Comma-delimited format (csv) (Zip format 34K)

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Terms & Definitions

Age category The appropriate age category is determined by the respondent's age on the last day of the month preceding the interview.
 
Aggravated assault An attack or attempted attack with a weapon, regardless of whether an injury occurred, and an attack without a weapon when serious injury results.
With injury - An attack without a weapon when serious injury results or an attack with a weapon involving any injury. Serious injury includes broken bones, lost teeth, internal injuries, loss of consciousness, and any unspecified injury requiring two or more days of hospitalization.

Threatened with a weapon - Threat or attempted attack by an offender armed with a gun, knife, or other object used as a weapon that does not result in victim injury.
 
Assault An unlawful physical attack or threat of attack. Assaults may be classified as aggravated or simple. Rape, attempted rape, and sexual assaults are excluded from this category, as well as robbery and attempted robbery. The severity of assaults ranges from minor threats to nearly fatal incidents.
 
Burglary Unlawful or forcible entry or attempted entry of a residence. This crime usually, but not always, involves theft. The illegal entry may be by force, such as breaking a window or slashing a screen, or may be without force by entering through an unlocked door or an open window. As long as the person entering has no legal right to be present in the structure a burglary has occurred. Furthermore, the structure need not be the house itself for a burglary to take place; illegal entry of a garage, shed, or any other structure on the premises also constitutes household burglary. If breaking and entering occurs in a hotel or vacation residence, it is still classified as a burglary for the household whose member or members were staying there at the time the entry occurred.
Attempted forcible entry-A form of burglary in which force is used in an attempt to gain entry.

Completed burglary - A form of burglary in which a person who has no legal right to be present in the structure successfully gains entry to a residence, by use of force, or without force.

Forcible entry - A form of completed burglary in which force is used to gain entry to a residence. Some examples include breaking a window or slashing a screen.

Unlawful entry without force -A form of completed burglary committed by someone having no legal right to be on the premises, even though no force is used.

 
Collection year The set of victimizations reported to the NCVS in interviews conducted during the same calendar year. This set may include victimizations which occurred in the previous calendar year, due to the retrospective nature of the NCVS interview. Collection year data are used in tables beginning in 1996. See "Data year."
 
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Related Links

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