Discuss the key differences between the UCR and the NIBRS.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

? Incident-Based versus Summary Reporting. The UCR reports Part I (index) offenses and Parts I and II arrest data in aggregate (summary) form. NIBRS, which requires detailed data on individual crime incidents and arrests, receives separate reports for each incident/arrest. These reports include fifty-two data elements describing the victims, offenders, arrestees, and circumstances of the crime.
? Expanded Offense Reporting. The UCR is a summary-based system and collects totals on criminal incidents in eight offense classifications within the Part I type. NIBRS receives detailed reports on twenty-two categories and forty-six offenses in the Group A list. It adds the following list to the original UCR Part I crimes: bribery, counterfeiting and forgery, vandalism, drug offenses, embezzlement, extortion and blackmail, fraud, gambling offenses, kidnapping, pornography, prostitution, non-forcible sexual offenses, weapons law violations, and stolen property offenses. In addition, many of the Part I offenses have been expanded.
? New Offense Definitions. In addition to expanding the original list of UCR offense categories, NIBRS revised the existing definitions of crime. Rape, for example, is defined as “the carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or, not forcibly or against a person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity”.
? Elimination of the Hierarchy Rule. Under the UCR hierarchy rule, if multiple crimes took place within the same event, only the single most serious crime was reported. NIBRS eliminates the hierarchy rule and cites all crimes reported as offenses within the same incident.
? Greater Specificity of Data. Because it collects more specific information regarding criminal incidents, NIBRS data will eventually lead to a more detailed crime analysis, criminal profiling, and crime reporting. NIBRS will also have the capability of providing breakdowns regarding victims, cost, involvement of weapons, injuries, and the like, innovations that had not been possible in the past.
? Crimes against Society. Whereas the UCR distinguishes between “crimes against person” and “crimes against property,” the addition of many new offense categories in NIBRS necessitated the creation of a new category—“crimes against society.” This category includes crimes such as drug offenses, gambling violations, pornography, and prostitution.
? Attempted versus Completed Crimes. The UCR system reports many attempted crimes as completed ones. The NIBRS system will include a designation of each crime as either attempted or completed.
? Designation of Computer Crime. With NIBRS data of the future, it will be possible to determine whether a traditional crime, for example larceny, was committed by computer. But this specificity will not eliminate the traditional classifications that are important for historical trend analysis.
? Better Statistical Analysis. NIBRS will permit a greater opportunity for examining interrelationships between many variables such as offenses, property, victims, offenders, and arrestees.