UCR Versus NCVS

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The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is constructed by the FBI on statistics of crime in the U.S. The FBI consolidates the information it receives from law enforcement officials and integrates all the information into a data that measures crime. This information is compiled by over 18,000 different agencies, from the universities to federal agencies. The information they receive is placed into two different categories, part 1 and part 2 offenses. UCR also measure crime against only women and the NCVS measures against both male and female.
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is information that is gathered by the U.S Census Bureau. Unlike UCR this information is not given by law enforcement officials, but by a household survey that is conducted about twice a year. When the survey is being commenced they place the crimes into two different categories; person crimes and property crimes. NCVS has four objectives when obtaining information; “(1) to develop detailed information about the victims and consequences of crime, (2) to estimate the number and types of crimes not reported to the police, (3) to provide uniform measures of selected typed of crimes, and (4) to permit comparisons over time and types of areas.” (NACJD)
Information that is given to the bureau is not always fully correct because with the UCR there are crimes that go unreported and therefore the law enforcement officials don’t have that information to give the FBI. However, the data from both the UCR and NCVS are very useful especially when combined to determine what type of crime is going unreported and what we can do to change that. Ultimately, the data is used to help deter crime and keep us more up to date on crime statistics. Some things that ...

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...o more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful. (Ochi) This is an entry in a report regarding hate crime given by Rose Ochi from the U.S. Department of Justice. It explains all too well what people of both sides of hate crime feel. Those that commit hate crimes mentally ill; however psychologists do find that they have a, “high level of aggression and antisocial behavior.” (Dunbar) It was very interesting to find that those who commit hate crime offenses premeditate their crimes and will drive further out to commit these crimes.
In the end both the UCR and the NCVS collectively work together. It’s important to see that they both complement each other. While they are both different they work together to fight the war on crime. It’s important to understand what is reported and not reported to police so that we can make our society safer.

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