Introduction
The high crime rate in the United States can be significantly reduced by a combination of effective law enforcement strategies as well as the legislation of laws that will help law enforcement agencies prevent crime as well as apprehend criminals. In this regard, policymakers must have access to accurate information regarding criminal behavior across America. This is where the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), can be used as the main tool for government officials as well as law enforcement agencies to understand the nature of crime in the U.S. The way data is collected through the UCR system provides an accurate indicator of crime in the United States.
Crime Reporting
The history of crime reporting in the United States dates back to 1929 when Chiefs of Police deemed it necessary to have accurate crime statistics. A year later the FBI was tasked to collect, publish and archive data that was accumulated through the regular reporting of law enforcement agencies across the U.S. This has resulted in comprehensive publications that appear annually such as the Crime in the United States, Hate Crime Statistics, and Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. These annual publications do not only provide accurate information about criminal offenders but also information on how law enforcement agencies are dealing with criminals especially when it comes to crime prevention, crime detection as well as the negative impact of criminals using deadly force to fight back.
A comprehensive and uniform crime reporting system is very important because it will prevent the duplication of data. If there is an effective way to coordinate the reporting of crime then the Federal Government will have an accurate picture of criminality in the United States. Together with pertinent information such as the number of police officers that are harmed or killed in action can also provide hints if the current methods used by law enforcement agencies are enough to prevent crime or at least deter criminals from challenging the authorities.
The UCR
The success of the UCR can be partially explained by the fact that the FBI is at the center of it all and coordinating the efficient reporting, collecting, and archiving of crime reports. By giving the FBI the authority, responsibility, and resources to create a system of data gathering, it is the first important step to understand criminal behavior in the U.S. The FBI on the other hand is serious in fulfilling this role. The FBI provides at least two major tools to accomplish this mission and these are the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook.
The Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook allows thousands of different law enforcement agencies to communicate clearly and effectively to the FBI. In this handbook, the FBI provided not only the necessary technical procedure that will result in efficient reporting but also in defining key terms that in turn will help law enforcement agencies to accurately describe the types of crime and criminal behavior that they came in contact with with with in their locales. For instance, the handbook defines Aggravated Assault as the “…unlawful attack by one person upon another…” (Criminal Justice Information Services, 2009). This will help disparate law enforcement agencies to be on the same page with the FBI. These agencies will then use the NIBRS to update crime statistics in their respective jurisdictions and the FBI will collate this information to get an accurate picture of crime in the U.S.
The FBI as well as the U.S. Department of Justice are working together to improve the current state of UCR. One way to do this is to gather specific information about the crime. As mentioned earlier the UCR is not only interested in criminal behavior but is also interested in how police officers are being affected in their fight against crime. As a result one of the most important publications created by the UCR is the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. The UCR is also being expanded to get a more in-depth look at crime in the U.S. As a result there is the Hate Crime Statistics. It must also be pointed out that law enforcement must not only be focused on low-status crimes or “street crimes” (Barnett, 2000). In this regard the UCR is also looking into white-collar crimes – these are crimes committed by persons of respectability and high social status (Barnett, 2000). In this way, the FBI can assure the public that they have an efficient system that can be considered as an accurate indicator of crime in the United States.
Conclusion
The UCR is an accurate indicator of crime in the United States because it provides a “common denominator” language for all law enforcement agencies across the U.S. This means that uniform crime reporting is made possible because it reduces the errors in reporting. This is made possible by the use of a framework as well as numerous protocols that will help disparate law enforcement agencies to be on the same page as the FBI. It must be pointed out that the Federal government is both a horizontal and vertical form of governance, meaning that each state has the power to create its laws. This kind of autonomy can be a nightmare for data collection. Different statutes and differences in interpreting crime can render it impossible to get an accurate picture of criminality in the U.S. This is the main reason why the UCR was created.
The importance of the UCR is not only in coordinating various agencies to report crime and regularly provide reports about criminal behavior in the U.S.; the UCR also enhances the capability of the FBI to look into the various facets of criminal behavior in the U.S. For instance, the UCR is not only interested in the “low status” crimes but also deem it important to get data regarding white-collar crime. The system is not perfect but it is effective in providing an accurate indicator of crime in the United States.
References
- Barnett, C. (2000). “The Measurement of White-Collar Crime Using Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Data.” Criminal Justice Information Services.
- Criminal Justice Information Services. (2009). “Uniform Crime Reports.”