Modernizing Crime Statistics Report 2 New Systems For Measuring Crime

Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2

To derive statistics about crime â€" to estimate its levels and trends, assess its costs to and impacts on society, and inform law enforcement approaches to prevent it - a conceptual framework for defining and thinking about crime is virtually a prerequisite. Developing and maintaining such a framework is no easy task, because the mechanics of crime are ever evolving and shifting: tied to shifts and development in technology, society, and legislation. Interest in understanding crime surged in the 1920s, which proved to be a pivotal decade for the collection of nationwide crime statistics. Now established as a permanent agency, the Census Bureau commissioned the drafting of a manual for preparing crime statisticsâ€"intended for use by the police, corrections departments, and courts alike. The new manual sought to solve a perennial problem by suggesting a standard taxonomy of crime. Shortly after the Census Bureau issued its manual, the International Association of Chiefs of Police in convention adopted a resolution to create a Committee on Uniform Crime Records â€"to begin the process of describing what a national system of data on crimes known to the police might look like. Report 1 performed a comprehensive reassessment of what is meant by crime in U.S. crime statistics and recommends a new classification of crime to organize measurement efforts. This second report examines methodological and implementation issues and presents a conceptual blueprint for modernizing crime statistics.

Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2 - New Systems for Measuring Crime

Measuring Crime

Every day, newspapers, magazines, web sites, and social media feature articles about the prevalence of crime. Some of these contradict each other; others use inaccurate statistics. Many people who see wildly diverging statistics conclude that no statistics should be trusted. However, the essence of the statistical discipline is that all statistics should be accompanied by a measure of their accuracy. This book looks at crime statistics from a statistical point of view, and evaluates the different sources of crime statistics with respect to completeness (i.e. missing data), measurement error, and sampling variability. The goal of the book is to promote statistical reasoning about statistics.