Predicting Crime with the Uniform Crime Reporting System

Predicting Crime with the Uniform Crime Reporting System

Part 1: Learning the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting System

The Uniform Crime Reporting can help public safety officials predict crime and present crime rates to the American public. In addition, the paper will elaborate on the major forecasts of the criminal activity based on the data and what you have learned in the course. In order to do so adequately, the paper will compare Uniform Crime Reporting data to establish similarities and differences that can be inferred from the data in order to ascertain if trends have remained the same.

The paper will also give consideration to the manner in which government officials use the crime statistics data from the 1970s to predict crime twenty years later. The paper will consider the reliability of the statistics in the Uniform Crime Reporting and if law enforcement agencies required to report their criminal incidents for compilation in the yearly Uniform Crime Reporting.

How Individual Agencies Classify Information that is Compiled into the Report

According to the official UCR Program website:

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program has been the starting place for law enforcement executives, students of criminal justice, researchers, members of the media, and the public at large seeking information on crime in the nation. The program was conceived in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to meet the need for reliable uniform crime statistics for the nation. In 1930, the FBI was tasked with collecting, publishing, and archiving those statistics (Criminal Justice Information Services, 2013).

Resources Public Safety Officials, like Sheriffs or Police Chiefs, have to classify or Categorize crimes in their Cities, Counties, and States

In order to stop crime, it is imperative to begin by acquiring an understanding of the present state of law and order (Sprott, Webster & Doob, 2013; Rennison, Gover, Bosick & Dodge, 2011). This calls for the continuous collection of data with regard to crime so that it can be studied for trends and patterns. Once data is collected, the next stage is to analyze the data closely so that individuals and agencies responsible for taking care of the law and order situation are fully aware of the best manner in which they must proceed to do their jobs (Deller & Deller, 2011; Reed, Raj, Miller & Silverman, 2010). The Uniform Crime Reporting System is one such initiative and has managed to prove the utility of effective data collection for criminal statistics. Initiatives such as the Uniform Crime Reporting System are imperative for the sake of staying one step ahead of criminal activity (Lopez & Livingston, 2009; Boyle, Lanterman, Pascarella & Cheng, 2010).

Pros and Cons of the Uniform Crime Reporting System and the Yearly Reports

The Uniform Crime Reporting System helps law enforcement officials to acquire an understanding of the prevalent trends with respect to the different types of crime that merit consideration (Loftin & McDowall, 2010; Finkelhor, 2011). The statistics collected help law enforcement agencies to come to terms with the scope and magnitude of ...