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Measuring Crime Chapter 2

Terms in this set (12)

Measuring crime is necessary to:
a. Define it
b. Explain it
c. Describe it
d. Explain why it occurs
e. Evaluate programs , policies, and punishments related to crime
f. Assess risks of different social groups, including their potential to become offenders or victims
Seven social issues that often lead to crime:
a. abuse
b. addiction (alcohol/drugs/gambling/sexual)
c. broken windows/disorganization theory
d. delinquency
e. mental health
f. lack of a guardian (parent/police, etc)
g. poverty/lack of opportunity
Six ways that crime stats are used:
a. crime control
b. identify hot spots
c. predict future crimes
d. public awareness
e. public safety
f. victim programs
U.S. Crime databases:
a. Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

b. NationalIncident Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

c. Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR)

d. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

e. Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA)
The UCR is:
a. annual report published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (U.S. Department of Justice)

b. Meant to estimate major street crimes in the U.S.

c. Compiled from data received from local and state law enforcement agencies
The UCR has two crime classifications
i. Part I Offense = More serious crimes

ii. Part II Offense = less serious crimes
Limitations of UCR
a. Dark figure of crime (Unreported and unknown crimes)

b. Concentrates on conventional street crime not all crime

c. Incomplete or late reports from law enforcement agencies

d. Clerical and data processing errors

e. Changes in legal codes
Supplemental Homicide Report:
a. provides more detailed information about the incident (e.g., the offender, the victim)

b. collects additional information about homicides including:
i. Details about the murder victim and offender;

ii. The relationship between the victim and the offender;

iii. The weapon used; and

iv. Circumstances involved
National incident based reporting system:
a. NIBRS expands the types of reported offenses

b. NIBRS separates offenses into Group A and Group B offenses

c. NIBRS collects data on all Group A offenses

d. NIBRS collects data on Group B offenses ending in arrest
National Crime Victimization Survey:
a. a primary measure of crime in the U.S.

b. collected by the department of justice and the census bureau and is based on interviews with victims of crime

c. primary purpose - to provide additional insight into the dark figure of crime

i. victim may not report crimes to law enforcement due to:
1. fear
2. cultural norms
3. retaliation/vigilante
4. believes nothing will
be done;

d. feels the incident is too private or personal

e. perceives that police would not want to be inconvenienced
Hate Crimes:
a. hate crimes are not separate or distinct crimes

b. They are traditional offenses that are labeled hate crimes when motivated by the offender's bias (or biases)

c. Police are required to list at least one basis motivation for hate crime

d. Single bias hate crime in which one or more offense types are motivated by the same bias

e. Multiple-bias is a hate crime in which one or more offense types are motivated by two or more biases
Law enforcement officers killed and assaulted (LEOKA):
a. part of the UCR program

b. collects annual data on the number of law enforcement officers killed and assaulted in the U.S.

c. Line-of-Duty Death - occurs when an officer is on or off duty and acting in an official capacity while responding to a situation that would ordinarily fall within the scope of his or her death
i. Suicides not included
ii. Heart attacks or other natural causes not
included
iii. Military related death not included

d. Felonious Death - Occurs when an officer is killed because of or while performing his or her official duties and as a direct result of a criminal act by subject

e. Accidental death - Occurs when an officer dies as a result of an accident he or she is involved in while performing duties ( e.g., officer is struck by a vehicle while directing traffic or drowns during a rescue attempt)
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