CJUS 601 Forum 4

After reading Chapter 4 of the Mosher textbook, what are some of the differences in using official crime data as discussed in Chapter 3 of the Mosher textbook and Self-Reported Data in Chapter 4. What are the particular strengths and weakness of each of these types of data sources? 

“Official crime data are those that derive from the normal functions of the criminal justice system” (Mosher, Miethe, & Hart, 2011, p. 65). They include police reports of offenses and arrests, charges filed by prosecutors, criminal complaints and indictments, imprisonment data, and prison releases. In the United States, there are two major sources for crime data which are the UCR or Uniform Crime Reports and the NIBRS or National Incident-Based Reporting System. “The UCR is the FBI’s widely used system for recording crimes and making policy decisions” (National Institute of Justice, 2009). The UCR collects data on 8 different index crimes and reports it every year however the NIBRS goes toward the UCR but actually collects more detailed information. The UCR collects data on criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The NIBRS organizes there crimes into group A and group B offenses. Some offenses for group A include but aren’t limited to shoplifting, drug/narcotic offenses, embezzlement, and even kidnapping/abduction. Group B offenses include bad checks, runaway, peeping tom, and many more offenses. The UCR has been used for decades in order to collect some basic information within its categories while the NIBRS is a newer source that tracks more detailed information which allows multiple victims and even multiple offenders in order to capture more detailed information about each incident. The NIBRS has helped to improve the UCR by increasing the number of criminal offenses from 8 to 57, allows more detailed information, links specific arrests and clearance data, eliminates the use of the hierarchy rules and distinguishes between attempted and completed crimes. As for the NIBRS 57 offenses, there are 46 Group A offenses and 11 Group B offenses. The UCR has many strengths which include putting real crime data into a consumable format, allowing people to see the historical perspective of crime, and letting society see how it has viewed crime over the years. Also, the amount of agencies that participate in the UCR is high which makes it one of the more comprehensive studies.  Weaknesses include the fact that it is not 100% accurate, changes in local laws can cause information spikes, and data is slow in coming out. It only measures crime that is reported and it does not account for errors in reporting. Some weaknesses for the NIBRs is that it only collects data on reported crime, does not detect crimes that do not come to the attention of the police, and the reporting process is so cumbersome that a few agencies participate.  A strength is that the information is standardized across the US. 

References

Mosher, C. J., Miethe, T. D., & Hart, T. C. (2011). Official Crime Data. In The Mismeasure of Crime (2nd ed., pp. 65-116). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
National Institute of Justice. (2009, December 14). Sources of Crime Data: Uniform Crime Reports and the National Incident-Based Reporting System. Retrieved from https://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/pages/ucr-nibrs.aspx

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