Introduction
Robbery is described as the act of forcefully taking possession of another person’s property. Robbery can be divided into different categories, which include aggravated robbery, highway robbery, bank robbery, carjacking, and extortion. Under the National Incident-Based Reporting System, robbery is classified as a Group ‘A’ offense, and it is also classified as part 1 offenses and arrests in the Uniform Crimes Reporting (UCR). Over the past years, due to increased population and other economic factors robbery has risen all over the world. It is one of the topics that will assess these different methods of reporting since it forms a fundamental part of each of them. Robbery is the third highest in the offense hierarchy coming only behind murder and rape, thus making it an extremely serious crime that is critical and should be researched further.
Incidents and Arrests Recorded
In Virginia, in the year 2004, there were 6828 counts of reported incident-based report offenses. However, 6789 of these incidents were converted into the UCR summary and were to be used by the FBI. There was a difference of 39 counts which were not reported under the UCR. This represented 0.82 percent of the total robbery cases reported and was the third-lowest form of crime in the year that had the third-lowest percentage of the difference. The difference occurs because the UCR report is a summary of all the incident-based reports for the whole month.
Limiting Factors to the Effectiveness of UCR
The first prime factor affecting UCR is the mode of reporting. The UCR is a method of reporting which was first used in the 1930s and after many revolutions through the years it has not changed. It uses the summary form of reporting. Although the reports are conclusive they are not detailed and, therefore, not very useful. Under UCR, a summary at the end of the month is given and, therefore, there is no detailed report for each incident and report, making the method ineffective in determining the actual number of incidents.
The UCR is also guilty of the ‘hierarchy rule’. UCR policy is to give the crime highest in the hierarchy first priority and disregard the others if they are being charged on the same person. Arson is the only crime immune to this rule as it must be reported no matter the case. This rule gives rise to the differences in the reports; therefore, one cannot determine the actual values correctly.
Crime
Over the past years, the different forms of crime have increased drastically. Cases of robbery, rape, murder, assault and other forms of crime e.g. terrorism and vandalism are on the rise. This is due to the harsh economic conditions, psychological pressures, advancement in technology, and even different religious and cultural beliefs. The world today has many harsh conditions and adapts differently to behaviors. This leads to many people committing different forms of crime. The increase in crime is evident in the number of police specialized forces to handle situations that have been established.
Conclusion
The three methods of measuring crime are useful and effective in reporting crime incidents. However, the NIBRS is more effective than both UCR and NCVS. NIBRS method gives a detailed report of each incident in its final report. UCR gives a summary at the end of the month of all the incidents. NCVS on the other hand, reports the victimization and other reports that the police might have missed. This means that if the NIBRS reports conclusively then its report is more detailed and useful than the rest thereby meaning that it’s the best method of the three.