Crime Rates, Trends, And Variations

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is a form of official crime data that is based on reports submitted to the FBI by local law enforcement agencies. Moreover, the UCR focuses on Part I offenses (homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, car theft, and larceny) and offers a reliable, systematic way in which to analyze large-scale crime trends and debunk common stereotypes surrounding crime offenders and victims.

While Florida is already utilizing some of the strategies explored in this report, some of these strategies do not provide effective results in crime

As discussed earlier, there is a disparity between the actual crime percentage and the percentage of crime that is reported on the news. There have been instances in which crime has had an overall decrease, however, the amount of crime that is reported

When we get into how society and people look at crime, it happens in every city, every neighborhood, people are victims every day, businesses, and even property. Crime dates back since colonization and the rates have varied over time, believe it or not, crime has decreased over the years. As a matter of fact, the United States has been on a decline. The crime rate for the year 2000 was a total of 11,608,072 a declining year in 2015 with a total of 9,225,197. (U.S. Department of Justice)

Although crime has been around for ages, we only started collecting crime data around the 1930’s. Crime statistics show a lot about a country, state, county, etc. Crime can be linked to the environment, behavior of others, and personal experiences, it all depends on how the person deals with the hand they are dealt. Crime data is collected from three sources, which are uniform crime reports (UCR), national incident based reporting system (NIBRS), and national crime victimization survey (NCVS).

Unfortunately, the actual trend for crime is not consistent with what is portrayed in the media due to several factors such as not all crimes are reported according to the chart The Crime Funnel

However, aggravated assault crimes have been on the decline over these same years. This would lead one to think that overall there is less aggregated assaults per population size. The numbers though are not always in a steady decline each year. According to the graph in table 1, during years 2005 and 2006 there was an increase in aggravated assault. This could be because around that time the latest economic downturn or recession was starting in the US. This piece of information could link the crime of aggravated assault and other more serious crimes to the economic conditions that people have to live with in our country.

At one point, crime in America grew 13 times faster than population. Between 1965 and 1980s, crimes in every category rose to a record high in New York. Burglary related crimes rose from 183,443 to 360,925. Larceny-theft rose from 253,353 to 535. Vehicle theft rose from 58,452 to 171,007. Assault rose from 27,464 to 91,571. Murder rose from 836 to 2,228. However, during the 1990s, crime in New York crime tipped. Crime fell to a record low. Murder rates, burglary, larceny-theft, vehicle theft, assault, and rape all fell suddenly. Homicide rates plunged 43 percent reaching the lowest levels in 35 years. The crack epidemic along with the election of a new governor both contributed to the drop in crime not the “broken window theory”. Many

Crime rates as of 2015 in the United States according to Spies, violent crime did go up 3.8 percent after a two year decline, as far as violent crime is concerned. Spies also found the following:

Crime is an issue that is frequently connected to cities with urban centers. For years, officials and residents in Baltimore City worried about rising crime rates and the danger to public safety. From 1970 to present, violent crime has been a long term pattern in Baltimore and other urban areas in the United States. Beneath these patterns lies a significant volatility. During the 1970s, crime rates dropped before suddenly spiking in 1981. Amid the 1980s, crime rates fell again until an emotional reversal in 1988 which sent crime surging to obscene amounts before cresting around 1995 and falling again. This surge in savage crime in the late 1980s and mid 1990s has been connected with the introduction and rise of crime, a perspective that was reinforced by ER surveys. Prior to the crime wave of the late 80s, Baltimore's crime rates had been declined nominally and in contrast to cities of similar size in the region. The crack epidemic dramatically reversed these patterns, creating panic among city leaders not just in Baltimore but in other major

Throughout chapter 2, the main focus was types of crime and how they are reported/kept track of. In order to keep track of crime rates, Uniform Crime Reports (UCRS) and National Crime Victimization Surveys are used. Both of them have their positives and negatives. Uniform Crime Reports for instance, are beneficial because it keeps track of major crimes that have happened. It tracks the offenses such as Murder, Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary, Larson, and Auto Theft. Since murder is hard to get away with, it has a very accurate number when showing the statistics for that crime. On the other hand, half the crimes that happen go unreported like rape, theft, and assault. That is where the National Crime Victimization Surveys come in handy. The

Crime is an ongoing problem in the united states. Victims of crime are individuals who have been assaulted in an immoral matter that can cause various damages to the person. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is the FBI’s yearly publication of serious crime that occurred within the following year, which are reported by victims, police officers, and other sources. The UCR is not fully seen as an accurate source of crime calculation for various reasons. One main reason is the underreporting of crime done by both the officers and victims.

Many citizens believe that there is more and more crime occurring in the United States each year. However, evidence suggests that, for the most part, the United States’ crime rate is decreasing while the rest of the world’s crime rates are increasing. The rate of both violent crimes and property crimes have significantly decreased in the past two decades. In 2014, there were 9.4 million crimes reported, which is a drastic improvement from the 13.8 million crimes that were reported in 1995. Even though these are only statistics for the number of crimes that were reported to the authorities, the trends of victimization also support the idea the crime rates are declining.

On the other hand, theft and burglary actually went down by 27%. Even though there's more of that than anything else, it is still reducing and that is something to acknowledge. In total, all crimes thrown together for a city wide rate is reducing by 8%. This means that their criminal behavior is going lower in most areas, but not enough. Though people believe statistics when they come from a valid source, it is hard to precisely measure the decrease and increase of crimes in a city.

In chapter 4 the chapter considers a variety of possible explanations for the significant drop in crime and crime rates that occurred in the 1990s. Based on articles that appeared in the country’s largest newspapers, the authors compile a list of the leading, commonly offered explanations. The next step is to systematically examine each explanation and consider whether available data support the explanation. What the authors, in fact, demonstrate is that in all but three cases–increased reliance on prisons, increased number of police, and changes in illegal drug markets–correlation was erroneously interpreted as causation and in some cases, the correlation wasn’t even that strong.