The United States incarcerates more men and women annually, than any other nation in the world. This statistic holds a direct correlation with the everlasting issue of crime that is dealt with in America. A major tool that measures crime, and subsequently counteracts it, are crime databases. These databases include, but are not limited to, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), Uniform Crime Report (UCR), National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and others. These programs are used so that we can effectively measure criminal trends, and their societal effects. This essay focuses specifically on our nation's 2 major crime statistics gathering programs, National Crime Victimization Surveys and Uniform Crime Reports, and their importance within our criminal justice system. These criminal statistic programs have their strengths and weaknesses.
The Uniform Crime Report is an annual statistical summary of all arrests, and reported crime in the United States. These statistics are reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The crimes in these reports are divided into twenty-nine types of offenses, 8 of which, are major crimes. These 8 major crimes are Murder, Arson, Rape, Aggravated Assault, Robbery, Burglary, Larceny, and Motor Vehicle Theft; they are often referred to as, "index crimes." The data collected on index crimes, are more complete than non-index crimes. Non-index crimes are generally less serious, and would not come to the attention of the authorities, except for an arrest being made. Some important factors used when collecting data are age, race, sex, and geographic locations. Uniform Crime Reports have both positive and negative aspects. The Uniform Crime Reports are important because they determine the number of arrests made, and what crimes the arrests are for. When analyzed, this information can be used to determine crime trends.
