What are the potential sources of error in the nation’s major crime reports? Can you think of some popular use of crime statistics today that might be especially misleading?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Because UCR/NIBRS data are based mainly in reports to the police, they are flawed for a number of reasons. They omit unreported crime, and not everyone reports when they are victimized. For example, a drug dealer is unlikely to file a report if someone steals his or her drug supply. Likewise, the victim of the theft of a $20 item will probably not file a report because the amount of the deductible on his or her insurance (if he or she has it) likely exceeds the amount of the loss. Certain types of crimes are rarely if ever reported, particularly so-called victimless crimes such as prostitution and gambling. High-technology and computer crimes do not fit well with traditional reporting categories and may be underrepresented in the crime statistics. Victims’ reports may be inaccurate. The various levels of bureaucracy through which reports are filtered also increases the likelihood of inaccuracies in the data. Further, the hierarchy rule, which mandates that only the most serious crime be reported in cases where multiple crimes are committed, prevents the counting of criminal events known to have occurred. Some of these problems are being addressed by adoption of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
NCVS data are obtained through surveys and interviews, which may result in skewed results. Survey respondents may answer subjectively rather than objectively. Not everyone is equally willing to talk to interviewers. Some victims are afraid to report crimes to the surveyors while others may invent victimizations.
It has become commonplace for the news media to report declines in the overall
rate of crime in the United States. Such reports, of course, are based on “official” crime statistics—especially those made available through the UCR. Because data on crime rates, however, are based primarily on the reported rates of specific crimes (such as murder, rape, robbery, etc.), any increase or change in the rates of novel forms of crimes not covered by the program will not be visible. Hence, the recent rise in high-technology crimes is not obvious because it does not fall into one of the categories of crime reported under the UCR Program.