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Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime (2018)

Chapter: Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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– C –


Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics

In this appendix, we illustrate the degree to which offenses in the panel’s recommended classification of crime (Section 5.2.1 and Appendix D in Report 1 for the table of codes, Section 5.2.2 in Report 1 for the corresponding attributes) is covered by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and the National Crime Victimization Survey. Section C.1 breaks the classification into small tabular pieces, each of which is accompanied by a short narrative—explaining the rationale for scoring the match (or non-match) to the current national crime statistics, clarifying the definitions or concepts used in the current systems, or describing the possible coverage of an offense by other data sources, as appropriate. As described in Section 2.1, the labels we apply in characterizing the match are rough assessments: a images indicating that the definitions or concepts are in general agreement (and so whether the data source is capable of generating estimate counts or measures of the specific offense, a images indicating a general mismatch or lack of coverage, and parenthetical comments (expended upon in the narrative) suggesting caveats and major differences in concepts.

Our proposed classification in Report 1 includes, as an essential complement to the listing of categories, a list of attributes or contextual variables that we suggest as a minimal set of data items that should be collected for applicable offenses. Accordingly, Section C.2 of this appendix is a narrative concerning data elements that are commonly collected in incident-based crime

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

reporting systems—both NIBRS and selected state crime databases for which documentation is readily available.

In both sections, reference to coverage in the UCR emphasizes coverage in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) component of the UCR Program, listing the appropriate NIBRS offense code or data element. Relevant details of coverage of the offense type in the older, long-standing UCR Summary Reporting System (denoted SRS or UCR Summary) are described in the narratives when applicable. When not directly cited, the details on how an offense is covered in NIBRS or Summary is derived from the most recent NIBRS (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015) or Summary (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013) user manual.

C.1 CORRESPONDENCE OF OFFENSE CATEGORIES TO CURRENT CRIME STATISTICS

In the interest of brevity, the tables in this appendix do not drill down to the finest level of subcategorization in our classification (the X.X.X.X level). Likewise, we omit some categories and noncategories that are “other acts not already mentioned”/remainder categories that serve the purpose of making the classification exhaustive.

1—Acts Leading to Death or Intending to Cause Death

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

1.1 Murder and intentional homicide

images (09A murder and nonnegligent manslaughter)

images

1.2 Nonintentional homicide

images (as 09A)

images

1.2.1 Nonnegligent manslaughter

images (as 09A, combined with murder)

images

1.2.2 Negligent manslaughter

images (09B negligent manslaughter)

images

In both the NIBRS and UCR Summary, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter are combined in a single, inseparable category. Negligent manslaughter is set apart as a separate category, mainly for purposes of applying the Hierarchy Rule in the Summary system.1

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1 It is worth noting that our proposed classification (focusing on behaviors) attempts to keep the difference between types of manslaughter relatively simple, defining “negligent manslaughter” as “unintended death as a result of a negligent, reckless, or involuntary act that is not directed against the victim.” Gradations of manslaughter in penal/criminal code language have led to more evocative

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

Homicide is unique in the UCR framework in that it is the lone offense for which the UCR program requests detailed incident-based reporting even for jurisdictions that report only UCR Summary tallies. This is done through filing a Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) for each homicide. We make reference to SHR codes for some of the contextual, incident-specific information requested in the SHR in Section C.2 of this appendix. However, we display the SHR codes for circumstance of homicide here, for reference, in Box C.1.

Being premised upon interviews with crime victims about their experiences, crimes involving death of the victim are necessarily out of scope for victim surveys such as the NCVS.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

1.3 Assisting or instigating suicide

images (unless counted as murder)

images

1.3.1 Unlawful assisted suicide

images (unless counted as murder)

images

1.4 Unlawful euthanasia

images (unless counted as murder)

images

1.5 Unlawful feticide

images (unless counted as murder of victim less than 1 year old)

images

1.6 Unlawful killing associated with armed conflict

images images

The other types of acts causing death of the victim are not covered by the current national crime data systems—and, indeed, are ill-defined as federal crimes. Assisted suicide and unlawful euthanasia are not covered by federal criminal law, and their legalization varies by state statute. With respect to unlawful feticide, abortion is deemed legal in the United States pursuant to Supreme Court rulings and so not covered in federal criminal law. (Appropriations acts have routinely prohibited federal funding of acts such as assisted suicide or abortion.) That said, restrictions on abortion do exist in state statutes, and vary markedly across them—for instance, restriction by fetal age or rendering abortion unlawful for minors without parental notification.

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but complex distinctions. For instance, the Uniform Code of Military Justice distinguishes between “voluntary manslaughter” (killing, with “intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm” “in the heat of sudden passion caused by adequate provocation”) and “involuntary manslaughter,” the latter including killing “by culpable negligence” (10 USC § 919).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, unlawful killing associated with armed conflict (which would include unlawful killing “without justification or excuse”) would be considered as “murder” (10 USC § 918)—hence, a separate “crosswalk” to the specific subcategory would be required when Defense Incident-Based Reporting System (DIBRS) data are worked into national crime statistics collection.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

2—Acts Causing Harm or Intending to Cause Harm to the Person

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.1 Assault

images (albeit conceptualized differently)

images (as in UCR/NIBRS)

2.1.1 Serious assault involving shooting or discharge of a firearm

images (part of 13A aggravated assault)

images

2.1.2 Serious assault by means other than discharge of a firearm

images (part of 13A aggravated assault)

images

2.1.3 Minor assault

images 13B simple assault

images

2.2 Threat

images (in part)

images (in part)

2.2.1 Serious threat through shooting or discharge of a firearm

images (part of/inseparable from 13A aggravated assault)

images (though extent of threat/number of other victims unknown)

2.2.2 Serious threat through the display or pointing of a firearm

images (part of/inseparable from 13A aggravated assault)

images (though extent of threat/number of other victims unknown)

2.2.3 Serious threat by means other than firearm

images (13C intimidation)

images (though extent of threat/number of other victims unknown)

2.2.4 Minor threat

images (unless deemed intimidation)

images

The 2.1–2.2 offenses in our recommended classification are the means by which we restructure the UCR Program’s original concept of “aggravated assault” (as distinct from other or “simple assault”). Accordingly, the correspondence between the classification and existing data series is off, by design. That counts of UCR/NIBRS “aggravated assaults” are highly publicized (yet still fall short of an accurate, comparative measure of shooting incidents) while “simple assaults” are subject only to far-less-scrutinized, arrest-only collection is a longstanding flaw in national crime statistics—and one in particular need of remedy.

NIBRS defines intimidation (13C) as threatening words or behavior that “place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm . . . but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.” However, NIBRS renders intimidation as a subset of assault; our recommended definitions use the actual inflicting of harm as the distinction between assault and threat.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.3 Acts against liberty

To a degree images

2.3.1 Abduction of a minor2

images (in NIBRS, as 100 kidnapping/abduction)

images3

2.3.2 Kidnapping for ransom

images (as kidnapping/abduction)

images

2.3.3 Illegal restraint

images (unless coded as human trafficking or kidnapping/abduction)

images

2.3.4 Hijacking

images images

2.3.5 Illegal adoption

images images

2.3.6 Forced marriage

images images

Mentioned as a candidate for possible addition as a major crime category in both the 1929 Uniform Crime Reporting handbook that launched the program and in the 1958 expert-panel assessment, kidnapping/abduction never made it into the Summary inventory of crimes. Instead, it is listed as an example of “All Other Offenses,” the Part II, arrests-only catch-all category. Kidnapping/abduction won inclusion in NIBRS as category 100. Our recommended behavioral definitions are such that acts of 2.3.3 illegal restraint might be labeled as either human trafficking or kidnapping/abduction in NIBRS.

2.3.4 Hijacking is handled unusually in UCR protocols. Under the Summary system’s rules and constrained choices, the closest analogue (and how it may be counted) is robbery—a violent act against persons (vehicle operator and occupants) that involves the theft of property (the vehicle). NIBRS directs that “Hijacking-Air Piracy” be “classif[ied] as substantive offense, e.g., Kidnapping/Abduction or Robbery” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015:54).

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.4 Slavery and exploitation

To a degree images4

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2 For brevity, this table omits subcategories 2.3.1.1–2.3.1.4: parental abduction, abduction by a family member, abduction by a legal guardian, and abduction by another person

3 Though the NCVS has not been used to estimate abduction of minors, the periodic National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Throwaway Children (NISMART) in 1988 and 1999 involved use of survey methods.

4 It should also be noted that household survey methods are unlikely to reach the “target” group of victims of both 2.4 and 2.5 offenses.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.4.1 Slavery and involuntary servitude

images (not as such; inseparable from 64A human trafficking, involuntary servitude)

images

2.4.2 Forced labor5

images (not as such)

images

Our recommended classification attempts to decouple component behaviors/actions with the broader bundle of offenses added to the UCR program as “human trafficking” offenses. Specifically, we restrict the mechanics/logistics of trafficking to the trafficking offenses defined under category 2.5, and would treat the actual subjecting of another person to forced labor/servitude as either a 2.4.1 or 2.4.2 offense. However, the UCR categorization treats “human trafficking, involuntary servitude” as a unitary offense (Part I in Summary, 64A in NIBRS) that fuses both pieces of the underlying activity that we decompose separately.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.5 Trafficking in persons

To a degree images

2.5.1 Trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation

images (64B human trafficking, commercial sex acts)

images

2.5.2 Trafficking in persons for forced labor or services

images (64A human trafficking, involuntary servitude)

images

2.5.3 Trafficking in persons for organ removal

images images

2.5.4 Trafficking in persons for other purposes

images images

For UCR purposes (both Summary and NIBRS), human trafficking offenses are differentiated between those for “involuntary servitude” and those for “commercial sex acts”(64A and 64B). As described above, our classification addresses the mechanics/facilitation side of trafficking in these 2.5-group offenses and the direct subjection-to-act as either 2.4 slavery and exploitation or 3.4/3.5 sexual exploitation.

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5 For brevity, this table omits subcategories 2.4.2.1–2.4.2.3: forced labor for domestic services, forced labor for industry services, and other forced labor.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.6 Coercion

images images

2.6.1 Extortion or blackmail

images (210 extortion/blackmail)

images

2.7 Negligent acts

images (unless coded as assault, murder, or other offense)

images

2.7.1 Negligence in situations of persons under care

images images

2.7.2 Professional negligence

images images

2.7.3 Negligence related to driving a vehicle

images images

2.8 Dangerous acts

images

2.8.1 Acts that endanger health of another person

images (not as such; some such actions could be coded as 90Z All Other Offenses)

images

2.8.2 Operation of a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other psychoactive substances

images (albeit Group B/arrests only)

images

Two offenses in this range—extortion/blackmail and driving under the influence—were added to NIBRS when it began operation, albeit the latter only as a Group B offense for which arrests are tallied. General acts of criminal negligence (2.7) are not counted as such in the UCR save to the extent that they are part of other offenses, such as negligent manslaughter. Some of the examples given in Report 1 of 2.8.1 acts that endanger health of another person, such as violations of health and safety laws or adulterated foods/drugs/cosmetics, are listed in NIBRS documentation as part of Group B “all other offenses.”

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.9 Acts intended to induce fear or emotional distress

images images

2.9.1 Harassment

images (only as part of 90Z all other offenses, arrests only)6 images7

2.9.2 Stalking

images (not as such; defined in NIBRS as a example of 13C intimidation)

images (through supplemental survey)

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6 Harassment and 2.10 defamation are explicitly listed as sample offenses in the catch-all, Group B all-other-offenses category in the NIBRS manual.

7 Individual instances of threatening behavior, perhaps not (yet) constituting a course of conduct, may be recorded in the NCVS.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

2.10 Defamation

images (not as such; only as part of 90Z all other offenses)

images

2.11 Discrimination

images images

2.12 Acts that trespass against the person

images images

2.12.1 Invasion of privacy

images images

The core offenses of category 2.9 are both referenced principally by example in the UCR Summary and NIBRS systems. In Summary, 2.9.1 harassment is not mentioned but 2.9.2 stalking is a defined example under other (simple) assault—and so subject to Part II, arrest-count-only coverage. In NIBRS, stalking is explicitly listed as an example of NIBRS’s 13C intimidation offense, though it is not uncertain (and it seems unlikely) that NIBRS deals with either harassment or stalking as a “course of conduct” (pattern of two or more acts demonstrating a continuity of purpose) as our behavioral definition does. Instead, both 2.9.1 harassment and 2.10 defamation are listed as examples only in NIBRS’s Group B “all other offenses” category.

3—Injurious Acts of a Sexual Nature

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

3.1 Rape

images (statutory rape and sodomy separately defined)

images (but with less specificity than represented in these categories)

3.1.1 Rape with force

images (part of 11A rape [except statutory rape])

images

3.1.2 Rape without force

images (part of 11A rape [except statutory rape])

images (except that reason/means not directly collected)

3.1.3 Rape involving inability to express consent or nonconsent

images (in part, as 36B statutory rape)

images (for age of nonconsent issues); — (for mental disability or other factors)

3.1.4 Threat of rape

images (part of 11A rape [except statutory rape])

images
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

3.2 Sexual assault

images (not as such; different concepts defined, as 11B sodomy, 11C sexual assault with an object, 11D fondling, 36A incest)

images

3.2.1 Physical sexual assault

images (part of 11C sexual assault with an object, or other offenses above)

images

3.2.2 Threat of a sexual nature

images (except as part of other offenses above)

images

The original 1929 Uniform Crime Reporting manual defined rape as “the carnal knowledge8 of a female, forcibly and against her will” (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 1929:195). This limited definition—excluding the rape of males and omitting a broad range of sexual assault offenses—remained completely unchanged for decades, with the 2004 UCR manual using exactly the same words and omitting only the comma after “female” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004:19). In the UCR Summary System, “forcible rape” was partitioned into two categories, 2a rape by force and 2b attempts to commit forcible rape, with anything else being categorized as the Part II, arrests-only-reporting “other sex offenses.” The Blueprint for the Future of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program argued for a broadening of the rape category to include “all forcible sexual offenses,” including but not limited to “rape by instrumentation, rape of males, and other sexual assaults” (Poggio et al., 1985). When NIBRS was created out of the Blueprint, this definitional guidance was only partially adopted; the central “rape” definition was left unchanged, but a few related categories were created—the “rape by instrumentation” example was modified into 11C sexual assault with an object, and categories 11B sodomy and 11D fondling were added alongside “forcible rape” in NIBRS.

Even in 1929, UCR designers recognized the complexity of issues involving issues of consent, noting that their definition of rape “is subject to important extensions. [If] consent is given through fear of bodily harm, or the female

___________________

8 Describing the continued use of the term in 2004, the UCR Handbook relied on the Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th edition, definition of “carnal knowledge” as “the act of a man having sexual bodily connections with a woman; sexual intercourse” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004:19), adding that “there is carnal knowledge if there is the slightest penetration of the sexual organ of the female (vagina) by the sexual organ of the male (penis).” By the 9th and 10th editions, Black’s acknowledged that the term was “archaic” and redefined it as “sexual intercourse, esp. with an underage female.”

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

is too young to be considered capable of consenting, or is of unsound mind, or is prevented from resisting by narcotics, etc., it is the policy of the law to punish for rape. The same is true of consent obtained by fraud or because of mistaken identity” (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 1929:195). However, the Summary system maintained its single definition, instructing participating agencies that they “must not classify statutory rape, incest, or other sex offenses” as forcible rape (unless the occurrence of statutory rape or incest involved “the female victim [being] forced against her will to engage in sexual intercourse” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004:20). NIBRS made some concessions to these concerns, defining a separate category for 36B statutory rape to cover offenses by which consent could not be granted for sexual behavior due to age.

After years of continued pressure to expand the definition, the FBI finally modified the base definition of rape in 2011. The word “forcible” was stricken from category 2 rape, divided into 2a completed rape and 2b attempts to commit rape, and rape itself was now defined as “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013:13). For purposes of transition between the old and new definitions, a new subcategory 2c “historical rape” was established to permit agencies who could not immediately accommodate the new definition to continue to report under the old.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

3.3 Sexual violations of a nonphysical nature

images images

3.4 Sexual exploitation of adults

images (to a degree, as 40A–C prostitution offenses)

images

3.5 Sexual exploitation of children

images (not as separate category)

images

3.5.1 Child pornography

images images

3.5.2 Child prostitution, production and provision

images images

3.5.3 Child prostitution, procurement

images images

UCR Summary includes a Part II category for general “sex offenses (except rape and prostitution and commercialized vice),” which would be subject to arrests-only reporting and might be argued to include the offense of sexual exploitation of adults. In NIBRS, three separate categories (40A–C) are used for prostitution, assisting or promoting prostitution, and purchasing

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

prostitution, respectively. Our suggested classification distributes various aspects of prostitution/sexual exploitation involving adults across several categories, somewhat differently. The central, exploitative, “pimping” acts are covered in category 3.4; the logistics of facilitating prostitution are considered trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation (2.5.1); and the procurement of prostitution is a prostitution offense under societal crimes (category 8.2.1).

4—Acts of Violence or Threatened Violence Against a Person That Involve Property

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

4.1 Robbery

images (as general category, 120 robbery; all subtypes below fall under heading but are not differentiated)

images (in large part)

4.1.1 Robbery from the person

images (part of 120 robbery)

images

4.1.2 Carjacking/robbery of a car or vehicle

images (part of 120 robbery)

images

4.1.3 Robbery of valuables or goods in transit

images (part of 120 robbery)

images (but only in noncommercial settings, as a household survey)

4.1.4 Robbery of an establishment or institution

images (part of 120 robbery)

images (as a household survey)

4.1.5 Robbery of livestock

images (part of 120 robbery)

images (unless a household-based farm)

4.2 Terroristic or disruptive threats to buildings or critical infrastructure

images images

Robbery is unique, conceptually and definitionally, in its fusion of elements of interpersonal violent crime with property crime. Accordingly, it makes sense that the offense would be addressed in a somewhat special manner in the UCR (and by the FBI, generally):

  • Robbery was among the first offenses for which additional detail was sought even in UCR Summary counts, beginning in the early 1930s and continuing into the current Supplement to Return A, which UCR participants are requested to file each month alongside the usual counts. Box C.2 describes the content of the Supplement. Hence, in the UCR Summary, there is only one category for robbery—but the Supplement enables generation of a count
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
  • of “actual offenses” and a sum of estimated monetary value of stolen property for robbery perpetrated in seven general location types, including banks and residences. (The Supplement also requests estimates of the total monetary value of property stolen and recovered by law enforcement, by several general classes of property type, but this is not subdivided by the underlying offense, such as robbery or burglary.)

  • Likewise, NIBRS defines only a single robbery category, but additional breakdowns by location type or property type may be derived from the other NIBRS variables. Our proposed classification differs by attempting to split out some variants of robbery by general mode, distinguishing (for example) carjacking—the stealing of a vehicle through direct harm or threatened harm of the driver—as materially different from other types of robbery.
  • Bank robbery, as a specific variant of robbery, is especially curious from the standpoint of national crime statistics because it is subject to direct reporting—by the FBI—completely parallel to the UCR Program, and in that capacity has been the subject of more-than-just-total-count reporting for decades. Further, 18 USC § 2113 makes it a federal crime to rob any financial institution whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or that is a member bank of the Federal Reserve—which is to say that the FBI has technical jurisdiction over most bank robberies, though investigations are typically done by local law enforcement (with the FBI taking a concurrent role). Annually, the FBI produces a Bank Crime Statistics (BCS) document (https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/bank-robbery/bank-crime-reports) independent of the UCR and Crime in the United States. The short report is a series of univariate analyses, presenting counts of bank robberies disaggregated by general type of institution (e.g., commercial banks or credit unions), age/sex/race of perpetrator, day of week, time of day, urbanization of the area, type of security devices at victimized institutions (and whether they were actually used/deployed), whether hostages were taken or not, and several other variables. The finest level of geographic detail in the report is a tabulation of total incidents by state. Like the UCR, the FBI’s separate BCS tabulations leave considerable uncertainty about the quality and completeness of the information. To wit, in almost back-to-back statements at the end of each document, an implied claim of completeness:

The BCS provides a nationwide view of bank robbery crimes based on statistics contributed by FBI field offices responding to bank robberies or otherwise gathered when provided to the FBI from local and state law enforcement.

is undercut by an added “Note:”

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

Not all bank robberies are reported to the FBI, and therefore BCS is not a complete statistical compilation of all bank robberies that occur in the United States.

As discussed in Report 1 (at p. 150), 4.2 terroristic or disruptive threats to buildings or critical infrastructure is an offense that we added because of its emergence in some states’ criminal codes, and because it is similar to robbery as a hybrid violent/property crime (the threat of harm to individual persons through implied attack on “property”).

5—Acts Against Property Only

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

5.1 Burglary

images (220 burglary/breaking and entering)

images (but only household/person victims)

5.1.1 Burglary of business premises

images images

5.1.2 Burglary of residential/private premises

images images

5.1.3 Burglary of public premises

images images

Burglary is handled much the same way in the UCR Summary and NIBRS as is robbery. Through the Supplement to Return A (Box C.2), the Summary system requests slightly more than an overall count; it requests an “actual offense” count and estimated monetary value in six categories—residence/non-residence crossed by time of day (night, day, or unknown). And NIBRS generates the same information through a single 220 burglary/breaking and entering code and the values of other data elements.

Burglary warrants special mention in terms of measurement issues because it occasioned one of relatively few formal counting rules in the UCR data systems. Known as the “Hotel Rule,” the rule applies to burglaries of “hotels, motels, lodging houses, or other places where lodging of transients is the main purpose,” as well as rental units in self-storage buildings (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015:25)—in short, how to count burglary offenses in situations in which multiple rooms or units within a structure were likely violated in a single instance. Under the “Hotel Rule,” only a single incident would be logged in NIBRS in places like hotels where the individual units are under the supervision of a single manager and “[that] manager, rather than the individual tenants/renters, will most likely report the offenses to the police.” Within that single incident, the “number of premises entered” is still entered as a NIBRS data element. But, if both those conditions fail—“if multiple occupants rent or lease individual living or working areas in a building for a period of time,

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

which would preclude the tenancy from being classified as transient, and the occupants would most likely report the individual burglaries separately”—then the individual burglaries are to be reported in NIBRS as separate incidents.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

5.2 Theft

images

images (but only household/person victims)

5.2.1 Theft of a motorized vehicle or parts thereof

images (albeit as separate categories, 240 motor vehicle theft and 23G theft of motor vehicle parts or accessories)

images

5.2.2 Theft of personal property

images (though subdivided differently in 23A–H, e.g., pocket-picking, theft from motor vehicles, theft from building)

images

5.2.3 Theft from business or other nonpublic organization

images (if reported to law enforcement)

images

5.2.4 Theft of public property

images images

5.2.5 Theft of livestock

images

images (unless household-based farm)

5.2.6 Theft of services

images (in principle, part of 23H all other larceny)

images

Via the Supplement to Return A (Box C.2), the UCR Summary system divides the top-level larceny-theft category (except motor vehicle theft, which is itself deemed a separate Part I offense) into 9 subcategories, for which the number of “actual offenses” and estimated monetary value of stolen property are meant to be summed. In order, the subcategories are: pocket-picking, purse-snatching, shoplifting, theft from building, theft from coin-operated device/machine, theft from motor vehicles, theft of motor vehicle parts/accessories, theft of bicycles, and all other larceny. Larceny-theft is the exception to a general rule in that it is one offense for which the built-in categories in the Summary system are more detailed than those in NIBRS: NIBRS combines the “theft of bicycles” subcategory with all other larceny. (Of course, the detail on theft of bicycles relative to other types of property can be recovered from the NIBRS data element on type of property involved in the offense.)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

Motor vehicle theft is a separate Part I offense, and the Supplement to Return A asks for counts (but not estimated monetary values) to be tallied separately for three different classes—for motor vehicle thefts in which the vehicle is recovered after the fact. The three-way split is based on whether the vehicle was stolen in the reporting department’s jurisdiction (or not) or recovered in the reporting department’s jurisdiction (or not).

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

5.3 Acts against computer systems

images images

5.3.1 Unlawful access to a computer system

images/images (hacking and unauthorized access added to NIBRS in 2015; limited data as yet) images

5.3.2 Unlawful interference with a computer system or computer data

images images

5.3.3 Unlawful interception or access of computer data

images images

5.4 Intellectual property offenses

images images

Computer-based crimes are not included in the UCR Summary save to the degree to which some might be coded in Part II’s catch-all, arrest-only all other offense group. As with animal cruelty later in the classification, we both credit NIBRS with coverage and note 5.3.1 unlawful access to a computer system as a gap, as the closest match to the hacking/computer invasion offense that was formally added to NIBRS in 2015 but for which data has yet to be tabulated. Our classification differs with the NIBRS package by considering acts against computer systems a larger category in its own right rather than a subset of fraud offenses; it also adds the subcategory offenses of unlawful interference and unlawful interception or access of data (separate from breaches of computer systems).

Our classification system relies heavily on the cybercrime-involved flag included in the attributes section to indicate offenses where computers or networks are critical to the modus operandi of the criminal offense. It is in this way that we avoid carving out categories for specific cybercrime offenses for which keeping up with terminology could be a losing battle. To this end, we rely on the cybercrime flag to facilitate construction of derived categories of interest, such as ransomware (in terms of behavior, the combination of extortion and cybercrime-involvement) or cyberbullying (harassment in combination with cybercrime).

Category 5.4 intellectual property offenses are new to U.S. crime data collection.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

5.5 Property damage

images (290 destruction/damage/vandalism of property)

images

5.5.1 Arson

images (200 arson)

images

5.5.2 Reckless burning

images images

Arson is an inherently difficult offense to measure or count, immediately, because investigation is typically required to determine whether damaging fire was “willfully” set (or, in NIBRS parlance, “unlawfully and intentionally set;” Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015:21). Given the measurement difficulty, it is perhaps appropriate that arson may be the most fragmented of major offense types in terms of authority for data collection, with at least three nationally compiled databases all bearing a legitimate claim to be a measure of record:

  • As noted in our Report 1, the UCR Program is not itself explicitly defined under federal law—yet the collection of data on arson by the UCR is so authorized. The UCR Program was directed by law in 1978 (and again in 1982) to consider arson a Part I offense (92 Stat. 3465; 96 Stat. 1319).
  • Shortly before directing the addition of arson as a Part I UCR offense, Congress renamed and reauthorized the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to “formulate methods for collection of arson data” and to compile “nationwide arson statistics within the National Fire Incident Reporting System [NFIRS]” (92 Stat. 933). Now housed within the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), the USFA’s NFIRS database is intended to be a repository of voluntary-report information on all fire department incidents, paralleling the role of the UCR Program for law enforcement agencies. NFIRS continues to include a dedicated Arson Module for completion in arson incidents, in addition to the report required for any incident of burning.
  • In 1996, a provision in appropriations legislation authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to “establish a national repository of information on incidents involving arson and the suspected criminal misuse of explosives.” Submitting records on such incidents was made mandatory for federal agencies (pursuant to subsequent regulations), but it was also noted that the repository would “contain information on incidents voluntarily reported to the Secretary by State and local authorities” (110 Stat. 3009–369; provision now codified at 18 USC § 846(b)). The Homeland Security Act of 2002 that organized the new Department of Homeland Security also transferred authority for this arson and explosives repository to the Attorney General (as part of transferring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives [ATF] to the Justice Department; P.L. 107-296). The repository created pursuant to this law is the Bomb Arson Tracking System (BATS) of the U.S. Bomb Data Center, which
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

itself is expected to be permanently co-located with ATF’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.9 A “frequently asked question” on the ATF’s website describes the distinction between NFIRS and BATS as follows: “The primary mission of NFIRS is to collect fire incident information” while “BATS is dedicated to documenting the ‘follow-up’ investigation (i.e., case management).”10 The distinction is not as clear as might be hoped, of course, because (as noted at the outset) investigation is typically needed to document whether an incident of arson has actually taken place.

For purposes of crime statistics and analysis, the offense of arson has traditionally been conceptualized as a pure property crime. In our classification as in the UCR, harm done to persons inside of a structure would be treated separately in offense counts (arson being an exception to the UCR’s Hierarchy Rule for collapsing incidents down to a single offense). Compounding the difficulty of national/federal collection of data on arson is that federal law alone tends to blur the distinction between property and violent crime in the two major instance in which arson is defined. As a federal crime “within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,” the offense of arson can be prosecuted differently (with different penalties applying) “if the life of any person be placed in jeopardy” (or even if the structure burned is simply a dwelling/residential location) (18 USC § 81).11 Meanwhile, article 126 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ; 10 USC § 926) that would apply to arson committed by military personnel formally distinguishes “simple arson” from “aggravated arson” akin to the UCR concept of assault—with “aggravated arson” applying if “to the knowledge of the offender there is at the time [of the burning] a human being” inside the dwelling or structure.

The only other UCR/NIBRS offense that covers instances of property damage other than arson is the somewhat catch-all category 290 destruction/damage/vandalism of property. In our classification, we opted to downplay vandalism, which is typically viewed as a relatively petty crime, and fold it into category 5.5.3’s “other property damage.” That assessment

___________________

9 This administrative transfer was referenced, and commended, by Senate appropriators in their explanatory statement accompanying the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 (S.Rept. 114-239). In particular, the appropriators noted that the Department of Justice “has designated the [BATS] repository maintained at USBDC as the sole repository for explosives incidents, and has directed all DOJ components to use this system to document explosives-related incidents. The Committee believes that the USBDC will be more productive with regular input and analysis from multiple agencies.”

10 See https://www.atf.gov/explosives/qa/isn’t-bats-same-national-fire-incident-reporting-system-nfirs.

11 The federal definition covers the willful and malicious burning of “any machinery or building materials or supplies, military or naval stores, munitions of war, or any structural aids or appliances for navigation or shipping,” and attempt or conspiracy to commit arson is treated equivalently with the actual act of arson (18 USC § 81).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

is certainly ripe for review, following the collection of more data and settling upon appropriate indicators of arson and burning.

6—Acts Involving Controlled Substances

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

6.1 Unlawful possession or use of controlled drugs for personal consumption

images (conceptualized differently; 6.1–6.3 all may be part of generic 35A drug/narcotic violations)

images

6.2 Unlawful cultivation or production of controlled drugs

images images

6.3 Unlawful trafficking or distribution of controlled drugs

images images

6.3.1 Street-level selling of quantities of controlled drugs suitable for personal consumption

images images

6.3.2 Wholesale distribution/trading/possession of controlled drugs

images images

6.4 Unlawful acts involving drug equipment or paraphernalia

images (35B drug equipment violations)

images

As we describe in the text, category 6 on controlled substances is at the nexus of what could be considered “traditional” crime for purposes of crime statistics and what is “new” crime for data collection. As a criminogenic factor, drug involvement in crime, drug market-related crime, and illicit drug use are all commonly thought to be well known or well documented but on which national crime statistics are surprisingly silent. Drug involvement in other violent crimes has long been impossible to recover from UCR Summary data; meanwhile, a catch-all “drug abuse violations” is included in UCR Summary only as a Part II, arrests-only (and so relatively uninformative) category. NIBRS represented a slight improvement, crafting separate offense categories for general violations of drug/narcotic laws and violations involving possession or use of drug equipment (e.g., for production and resale of drugs). But the mismatch between the NIBRS “drug/narcotic violations” and the more market-based, possession-distinct-from-production-distinct-from-trafficking categories we suggest in our classification is sufficiently great that we think it fairest to consider the current data as a nonmatch. Substantively, our 6.4 unlawful acts involving drug equipment or paraphernalia is a different case in that it does generally match the NIBRS drug equipment offense—but, again, NIBRS’s

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

current limitation to arrests only potentially misses a large share of the drug-related offending that is of great public safety (and public health) importance.

7—Acts Involving Fraud, Deception, or Corruption

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

7.1 Fraud

images (in parts; conceptualized very differently)

images

7.1.1 Consumer financial and products/services fraud

images (most consistent with 26A false pretenses/swindle/confidence game, but also some of other NIBRS categories like 26B credit card/automated teller machine fraud or 26E wire fraud)

images

7.1.2 Identity theft

images/images (26F identity theft added in 2015, but no data available yet)

images (through topic supplement)

7.1.3 Fraud against businesses or establishments, including nonprofit organizations

images (could be part of 26B false pretenses/swindle/confidence game)

images

7.1.4 Fraud against government agencies

images (not as such, though 26D welfare fraud would be special case)

images

The UCR Summary system includes a single “fraud” line item as a Part II, arrests-only reporting offense—at best, a weak indicator for a class of offenses as harmful and as complex as fraud. NIBRS represented an improvement by adding numerous fraud-related categories. Arguably, the central one in the set is 26A false pretenses/swindle/confidence game, covering a wide range of criminally deceptive actions and culturally well-known concepts such as confidence games/scams. NIBRs also included several categories tailored more to the mechanics of fraud (e.g., credit card/automated teller machine fraud and wire fraud) than to distinct differences in the underlying behavior. Inasmuch as the UCR systems are generally tailored more toward individuals as the actors (victims and offenders), coverage of fraud against businesses or establishments in NIBRS is mainly tangential, and the specific NIBRS category of 26D welfare

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

fraud—if detected and reported to local law enforcement—would stand as a special case of the broader class of fraud against government agencies.

Identity theft, along with animal cruelty and hacking/computer invasion, are the newest additions to the NIBRS repertoire, and so are credited here as both a match and a nonmatch on coverage relative to our classification. Identity theft is now a named NIBRS offense, but it is not one for which data have yet been widely promulgated. It should be noted that identity theft is an instance in which the NCVS shines in terms of its coverage, having been the subject of topic supplements to the main survey and so generated some of the most thorough (and usefully provocative) national statistics on an increasingly important offense type.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

7.2 Forgery/counterfeiting

images (250 forgery/counterfeiting, without subcategory detail below)

images

7.2.1 Counterfeiting means of payment

images images

7.2.2 Counterfeit product offenses

images images

7.2.3 Acts of forgery/counterfeiting documents

images images

UCR Summary defines forgery/counterfeiting as a single Part II offense, subject to arrests-only reporting. NIBRS likewise defines a single category for 250 counterfeiting/forgery. Our recommended classification defines a few subcategories, in that counterfeiting currency/means of payment seems sufficiently, substantively different from document forging as to warrant separate breaks, though it might be possible to reconstruct some of this information from the NIBRS code in conjunction with other NIBRS data elements.

Forgery/counterfeiting is interesting in the NIBRS context because a formal counting rule has developed around it—invoked if an underlying rationale for the counterfeiting is actually realized. Until a forged/counterfeit financial instrument (like a check) is actually passed and items are received in return, then the forgery/counterfeiting is the only reportable/countable offense in NIBRS. But, at the point that goods or something of value is obtained in return for the passed counterfeit instrument, then that instrument becomes “negotiable” in the financial sense—and NIBRS guidance is that both fraud and counterfeiting occurred and both should be recorded (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015:26).

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

7.3 Corruption

images (in part)

images

7.3.1 Bribery

images (510 bribery)

images

7.3.2 Embezzlement

images (270 embezzlement)

images

7.3.3 Abuse of functions

images images

7.3.4 Trading in influence

images images

7.4 Acts involving proceeds of crime

images (generally consistent with 280 stolen property offenses)

images

7.4.1 Money laundering

images (as part of 280)

images

7.4.2 Illicit trafficking in cultural property

images (as part of 280)

images

7.4.3 Fencing stolen goods

images (as part of 280)

images

Several of the white-collar offenses in this block are defined within NIBRS, though the quality of the resulting data is largely unknown or unexplored. Of these, only embezzlement and “stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing” factor into the UCR Summary system—and then only as Part II, arrests-only offenses. NIBRS added a category for bribery and retained a general “stolen property offenses” category, into which general offenses related to proceeds of crime might be said to fall.

The offenses in this particular block are of additional interest because they are common examples of what are legally described as “racketeering activity”—individual occurrences of which would properly be counted in these and other substantive categories, but “patterns” of occurrence (course of conduct) would also properly trigger being counted as a racketeering offense/violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. See the discussion of organized criminal group offenses at 9.3 in the classification, below.

8—Acts Against Public Order and Authority

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.1 Acts against public order behavioral standards

images images

8.1.1 Violent public disorder offenses

images (disorderly conduct is Group B, arrests-only reporting offense)

images

8.1.2 Acts related to social public order norms and standards

images images
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.2 Acts against public order sexual standards

images (in large part)12 images

8.2.1 Prostitution offenses

images (40A–C, separate categories for prostitution and commercialized vice, assisting/promoting prostitution, and purchasing prostitution)

images

8.2.2 Pornography offenses

images (370 pornography/obscene material)

images

8.3 Acts related to freedom of expression or control of expression

images images

8.3.1 Acts against freedom of expression

images images

8.3.2 Acts related to expressions of controlled social beliefs and norms

images images

This grouping of “public order” offenses is a mixed bag in terms of correspondence with existing UCR standards. The closest concordance, historically, is with 8.2.1 prostitution offenses; as discussed above regarding human trafficking for sexual exploitation, we intend 8.2.1 prostitution offenses to cover the purchase/client side of prostitution, which is consistent with UCR Summary’s Part II concept of purchasing prostitution (arrests-only reporting) and NIBRS’s 40C purchasing prostitution. NIBRS added a category for offenses related to pornography/obscene material, which was not otherwise addressed in UCR Summary. On public order behavior offenses, NIBRS’s Group B, arrests-only disorderly conduct code loosely corresponds with part of 8.1.1 violent public disorder offenses.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.4 Acts contrary to public revenue or regulatory provisions

images images

8.4.1 Tax evasion, and other acts against taxation provisions

images images

8.4.2 Market manipulation, insider trading, and other acts against market or financial regulations

images images

___________________

12 NIBRS defines 36A incest as a subcategory of “sex offenses, nonforcible”; the panel’s classification places incest under 8.2.3 other acts against public-order sexual standards.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.4.3 Acts against regulations on alcohol, tobacco, or gambling

images on gambling, — on alcohol/tobacco13 images

8.4.4 Customs violations

images images

The white-collar offenses in our categories 8.4.1 and 8.4.2 are new terrain for U.S. national crime statistics while—aptly, for a system born in the 1920s—the “sin tax”offenses bundled into category 8.4.3 are somewhat better covered. Generic categories for “gambling” and “liquor laws” are included as Part II, arrests-only categories in the UCR Summary. NIBRS retained the same treatment of alcohol, retaining “liquor law violations” in its Group B, arrests-only class. Gambling violations, by comparison, were elevated somewhat in NIBRS, with four separate subcategories delineated.

As discussed further under category 9.3 below, the “sin tax” provisions and NIBRS’s subcategories for gambling offenses are among the types of offenses that may trigger the separate offense of racketeering violations when conducted more than once.

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.5 Acts related to migration

images images

8.5.1 Offenses related to smuggling of migrants

images images

8.5.2 Unlawful entry/border crossing

images images

8.5.3 Unlawful employment or housing of an undocumented migrant

images images

Migration offenses are new terrain for U.S. national crime statistics (but are certainly increasingly important to try to understand). There are, inherently, concerns about possible overlap with human trafficking offenses (described earlier)—and these and other migration-related offenses are notable parts of the federal definition of “racketeering activity” (as discussed relative to category 9.3, below), but the definitions outlined in Report 1 are intended to demarcate the varying behaviors specific to each category.

___________________

13 For gambling, the NIBRS defines separate subcategories for betting/wagering, operating/promoting/assisting gambling, gambling equipment violations, and sports tampering (39A–D). On alcohol, “liquor law violations” are denoted only as a Group B, arrests-only offense.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.6 Acts against the justice system

images images

8.6.1 Obstruction of justice

images images

8.6.2 Breach of justice system authority

images images

8.6.3 Preparatory or enabling crimes

images (not as such)

images

There is certainly a difference between “crime statistics” and the broad class of “justice statistics” that speak to the functioning of the entire criminal justice system; still, however paradoxically, offenses against the justice system itself are essentially uncovered in current crime statistics. Inchoate offenses—preparatory or enabling crimes—are only addressed in small part. To wit, several such inchoate offenses listed in NIBRS documentation are explicitly named examples of “offenses of general applicability” in NIBRS’s Group B, arrests-only, 90Z All Other Offenses category. Specifically, Federal Bureau of Investigation (2015) holds that “Offenses of General Applicability are those offenses prefixed by ‘Accessory Before/After the Fact,’ ‘Aiding and Abetting,’ [‘Conspiracy] to Commit,’ ‘Enticement,’ ‘Facilitation of,’ ‘Solicitation to Commit,’ [or] any other [similar] prefix”—to be included in 90Z (if at all) “unless it is an integral component of [a] Group A offense such as human trafficking.”

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.7 Acts related to democratic elections

images (election law violations cited as example of 90Z all other offenses, Group B arrests-only reporting)

images

8.7.1 Acts intended to unduly influence voters at elections

images images

8.8 Acts contrary to labor law

images images

8.8.1 Collective labor law violations

images images

8.8.2 Individual labor law violations

images images

On 8.7, “election law violations” is listed as an example of things that might be included in “all other offenses” (90Z), for Group B arrests-only reporting. Misuse of labor organization/union funds is part of a long list of possible “racketeering activities” (see 9.3 below), but actual infractions of labor law are new to crime statistics.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

8.9 Acts contrary to juvenile justice regulations or involving juveniles/minors

images (not as such)

images

8.9.1 Status offenses

images (not as such)

images

In the UCR Summary, violations by juveniles (persons under age 18) of local curfew or loitering laws is labeled a Part II, arrests-only offense. Historically, “runaways”—also applying to persons under age 18—was also a Part II offense, but “arrest data on Runaways is no longer required by the FBI UCR Program due to the differences between jurisdictional statutes” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013:169). NIBRS is likewise fairly silent on juvenile justice statistics—deferring, perhaps to the parallel juvenile justice system. NIBRS does include a Group B, arrests-only category for curfew/loitering/vagrancy violations that is applicable to both juveniles and adults—youth curfew violations being a common example of a status offense.

9—Acts Against Public Safety and National Security

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

9.1 Acts involving weapons, explosives, and other destructive materials

images (general “weapon law violations” is considered a Group B, arrests-only offense)

images

9.1.1 Unlawful possession or use of weapons and explosives

images images

9.1.2 Trafficking of weapons and explosives

images images

9.2 Acts against national security

images images

These general public safety/national security violations are generally new to crime data collection. The exception, loosely, being violations of weapons laws—the unusually crafted “Weapons: Carrying, Possessing, Etc.” category is a UCR Part II offense and a generic “Weapon Law Violations” is a NIBRS Group B offense, both subject to arrests-only reporting. Some of the named examples of acts against national security, including espionage, are among those listed in the NIBRS handbook as Group B, arrests-only 90Z all other offenses.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

9.3 Acts related to organized criminal groups

images (not as such) images

9.3.1 Racketeering, and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act

images images

NIBRS defines no separate category for racketeering—very loosely, the “business” side of organized crime, meaning travel or the use of mail or modes of transportation to further the ends of a criminal enterprise. Instead, NIBRS guidance on the treatment of RICO violations (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015:60) is to “report predicate offenses, e.g., Arson, Aggravated Assault, Extortion/Blackmail, or Human Trafficking”—the crimes enabled or facilitated by racketeering activity. In NIBRS, organized crime involvement can be coded as contextual information for selected offense types:

  • As “Other Gang” (as opposed to juvenile gangs), in Gang Involvement variable applicable to NIBRS-defined counterfeiting/forgery, stolen property offenses, drug/narcotic violations, drug equipment violations, pornography/obscene material, gambling equipment violations, weapon law violations, and animal cruelty; or
  • As “Gangland (Organized Crime Involvement),” in Aggravated Assault/Homicide Circumstances variable for those two offense types.

Our proposed classification includes a group support/motivation attribute to be flagged for individual offenses, consistent with the Gang Involvement variable in NIBRS, to make it possible to assess the extent of gang or other organized-enterprise involvement in particular types of offenses. But it also includes category 9.3 to properly consider racketeering activity as part of the overall picture of crime. Indeed, by the letter of the act, RICO violations are (like stalking and harassment) technically course-of-conduct offenses that require demonstration of multiple individual offenses (a pattern) to be triggered as offenses in their own right; see Box C.3 for additional detail. Such course-of-conduct offenses are challenging to handle in the usual data collections, but are nonetheless important and damaging offenses to understand.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

9.4 Terrorism

images (not as such)

images

9.4.1 Participation in a terrorist group

images images

9.4.2 Financing of terrorism

images images

The handling of terrorism-related offenses in NIBRS is similar to racketeering/organized crime offenses (directly above), in that the NIBRS manual’s guidance is to “classify as substantive offense,” in order to count (as listed examples) “homicide or property destruction” involved with a terrorist incident. But, unlike the organized crime example, there is no provision for flagging terrorism involvement as an attribute of the substantive NIBRS offense, so that information is conceptually lost in aggregation—as are the participation/enabling offenses we define as subcategories in our classification. (We also include “terrorism-related” as a desired value in the group support/motivation attribute that is part of the classification.)

10—Acts Against the Natural Environment or Against Animals

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

10.1 Acts that cause environmental pollution or degradation

images images

10.2 Acts involving the movement or dumping of waste

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10.3 Trade or possession of protected or prohibited species of fauna and flora

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10.4 Acts that result in the depletion or degradation of natural resources

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10.4.1 Illegal logging or mining

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10.4.2 Illegal hunting, fishing, or gathering of wild fauna and flora

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Environmental violations are major, new terrain for U.S. crime statistics—the only reference to offenses in this category in NIBRS materials being that “environmental law violations” is listed as an example of the NIBRS Group B 90Z “all other offenses” category.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

10.5 Acts against animals

images/images (720 animal cruelty, recently added) images

Acts against animals (10.5) is listed as both a gap and a covered offense due to the newness of its addition to NIBRS. The UCR Program announced the addition of animal cruelty to NIBRS “as a Group A offense and as a Crime Against Society” in January 2015, with data collection to begin on January 1, 2016. In addition to counting the offense under code 720 (animal cruelty), four abuse types were made available for coding in NIBRS in the “Type [of] Criminal Activity/Gang Information” variable (Criminal Justice Information Services Division, 2015:9): simple/gross neglect, intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse (e.g., dogfighting, cockfighting), and animal sexual abuse (bestiality). Absent knowledge of the quality and completeness of data collected under the new code, we opted to keep the top-line “acts against animals” as a crime category without specific subcategory breaks, but the examples/inclusions we list in the detailed classification (Appendix D of Report 1) are consistent with the NIBRS-defined abuse types.

11—Other Criminal Acts Not Elsewhere Classified

Offense Code In UCR/NIBRS? In NCVS?

11.1 Violations of military law

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11.2 Violations of tribal law

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11.3 Torture

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11.4 Piracy

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11.5 Genocide

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11.6 War crimes

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Category 11 of the classification is comprised of several special-jurisdictional offenses that should—generally and ideally—be extremely rare in practice. Subcategories such as piracy and genocide are primarily included in the classification to retain compatibility with the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) on which it is patterned, and also because they are named and defined offenses in the federal criminal code.

The definitions in our proposed classification for 11.1 violations of military law and 11.2 violations of tribal law are included fit the bill of capturing offenses “not elsewhere classified” in the categories. Both U.S. military law and American Indian tribal law largely parallel federal and state criminal codes in defining offenses—and so the intent would be for military and tribal authorities

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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to report those offenses for national compilation and analysis—but they also have the latitude to define infractions that are unique to their populations and jurisdictions. Relevant to implementation of more effective crime reporting, both broad categories also raise important concerns related to access to offense information, regardless of whether the offense is or is not elsewhere classified in our taxonomy. Taking them in turn, to provide slightly more detail:

  • As profiled in Section 2.3.1 of Report 1, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ; 10 USC §§801–946) governs the conduct of U.S. military personnel, including personnel working at any U.S. military installation. The UCMJ’s “punitive articles” directly parallel other crimes listed in this classification, the key difference being the manner in which the offenses are adjudicated (e.g., in courts-martial) and the penalties that may apply (e.g., including termination of service). Yet others are unique to the UCMJ, as described more completely in Report 1’s Box 2.5—such offenses as absence from duty, unlawful enlistment into the service, and refusal to comply with orders. These offenses are, consistent with the general behavioral definitions we outlined in Report 1, crimes that warrant inclusion in the overall picture of crime in the United States.

    The U.S. Department of Defense maintains its own incident-based record system—a data resource covering all of the offenses in the UCMJ and handled by the Defense Department’s police and justice authorities. Accordingly, the Defense Incident-Based Reporting System (DIBRS) is uniquely capable of both providing measures for category 11.1 but also including crimes at military installations or including military personnel in the statistics for other offenses as well. As Section 2.3.1 of Report 1, presentations to our panel, and a report from the U.S. Department of Defense, Inspector General (2014) indicate, linkage between DIBRS and NIBRS has been pursued for several years but remains elusive, largely hampered by a technical crosswalk between the two systems, ensuring that incidents are not counted (or double-counted) in surrounding cities or states due to clashing geographic descriptors.

  • Law enforcement and justice system processing in Indian Country—the term used to describe American Indian tribal lands and the self-governing, sovereign communities within them—is complex. As self-governing entities, tribes commonly maintain their own police forces, courts, and other authorities, and also typically have their own penal or criminal code defining offenses. The actual handling of criminal proceedings on tribal lands or involving tribal members depends on the nature of the offense, the location of the offense, and the tribal membership (or lack thereof) of both victim and offender. Pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (435 U.S. 191 [1978]), tribal police and courts lack jurisdiction over non-Indians even if they commit
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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offenses on tribal lands, and so they would not be empowered to make arrests (or, presumably, record or report the offenses). Conventionally, post-Oliphant, arrests of non-Indian perpetrators offending against non-Indian victims on tribal lands would have to be made by county or state authorities; arrests of non-Indians offending against tribal members would have to be made by U.S. federal authorities.14

In terms of data collection related to 11.2 violations of tribal law, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-211) vests lead authority for the collection of statistics on crime in Indian Country in BJS; Section 251(b) of the act amends the numerous, listed duties of BJS (42 USC § 3732) to include reference to tribal governments as well as federal, state, and local. More specifically, the act adds a general clause to BJS’s duties:

CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES.—The Director [(of BJS)], acting jointly with the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs (acting through the Office of Justice Services) and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall work with Indian tribes and tribal law enforcement agencies to establish and implement such tribal data collection systems as the Director determines to be necessary to achieve the purposes of this section.

C.2 CORRESPONDENCE OF SUGGESTED ATTRIBUTES TO CURRENTLY COLLECTED DATA ELEMENTS

The listings below summarize the way in which the attributes suggested in Section 5.2.2 of Report 1 correspond to currently collected data elements in NIBRS. If the element is defined in NIBRS, its number in the NIBRS database structure is listed in square brackets following the name (e.g., [N4] for NIBRS Data Element 4). Unless otherwise cited, references to NIBRS attributes are derived from Federal Bureau of Investigation (2015).

The NIBRS list of attributes/elements is supplemented by elements defined in one or more state-specific incident-based reporting systems. The systems mentioned in this way are from six states and were those for which specification manuals were readily available; all six state systems generally include the full set of NIBRS elements. The six states are:

___________________

14 That said, some state laws allow for cross-deputization of tribal law enforcement officers, permitting them (and the tribal law enforcement agency) to arrest and process non-Indians committing offenses on tribal lands, subject to county or state law and prior to transfer to county or state authorities. This is in the same manner that local law enforcement agencies (e.g., in neighboring suburbs) may formally agree to share arrest privileges within their separate geographical jurisdictions.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

In addition, in selected instances, we refer to the codes and information collected by the quasi-incident based Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) component of the UCR Program—the table of additional incident-level data items requested for every murder reported in an agency’s monthly Return A (the Summary Reporting System’s base form).

C.2.1 Incident-Level Attributes

Points of Agreement Between Recommended Classification and NIBRS

  • Incident date and time [N3]: We suggest collection of incident time at least to precision of the nearest hour of the day, as in NIBRS. Incident time is recorded in the NY, TN, TX, and VA systems (to the nearest hour in VA). NIBRS Data Element 3 records a single date/time but can also include an “R” flag to indicate that the date/time is the time a report was made, if the incident time is unknown.
  • Incident location type [N9]: In Section 5.2.2 of Report 1, we suggest a rough, starting minimum set of location type codes—a rearrangement and regrouping of the 58 location types coded in NIBRS—as follows:
    • Residential location
    • Store or retail
    • Financial institution
    • Commercial establishment (e.g., commercial or office building, hotel, or other lodging)
    • Entertainment venue
    • School grounds and academic buildings
    • Civic or justice system establishment
    • Transportation or related facility
    • Outdoors

___________________

15 The New York State Incident-Based Reporting (NYSIBR) system was, as of mid-2016, in the midst of improvements to ensure full compliance with NIBRS. This improvement project involves adding variables to indicate cargo theft involvement and criminal activity/gang involvement and substantially revising 8 other data elements (including bias crime type, weapon/force used, and the race of victim, offender, and arrestee). See http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/crimereporting/ibr_refman/Notice-of-Change-NYSIBR-03-18-2016.pdf.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
    • Other physical location (e.g., abandoned/condemned structure, tribal lands)
    • Multiple physical locations
    • Not location-based (e.g., cybercrime)
  • Number of victims, all offenses in incident: Not an explicit data element in NIBRS, but derivable from the number of victim identifiers on the NIBRS data record
  • Number of offenders, all offenses in incident: Similarly to the number of victims, not an explicit data element in NIBRS but one that is derivable

Attributes in Recommended Classification but Not in NIBRS

  • Incident geographic location: In Report 1, we suggest collection, “ideally, [of] an appropriately anonymized latitude/longitude pair” or—barring that—“a geocode to some small-area geography such as census block or tract.”
    • TN: Physical street address where the incident occurred or latitude/longitude coordinates if known
    • NY: City/town/village where the incident be coded, with an identifier for the law enforcement agency’s station, division, or precinct being optional
    • MI: County and city/township of occurrence, with an option “geo-code” slot that could be used to “identify station, division, post, team, precinct, etc.” (Michigan Incident Crime Reporting Unit, 2016:14)
  • Extraterritoriality: Yes/No indicator of whether incident includes offenses that may have been committed, executed, or initiated in another country or state (though federal or state law may hold that such offense may be considered as though committed within local jurisdiction)
  • Multiple jurisdiction: Yes/No indicator as to whether incident includes offenses that could be legitimately counted or reported in more than one law enforcement agency’s operational jurisdiction

Data Elements in NIBRS but Not in Recommended Classification

  • Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) [N1]: Identifier code for the reporting agency
  • Incident number [N2]: Unique identifier number assigned by reporting agency to each incident in submission
  • Offender suspected of using alcohol, drug/narcotics, or computer equipment [N8]: Incident-level flag for whether any of the offenders appeared to have used alcohol/drugs or—for whatever reason fusing the very different concepts—whether computers were involved. The NY system simplifies this variable to “offender used computer”
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
  • Cargo theft [N2A]: yes/no indicator of whether incident involves the theft of any cargo “that constitutes, in whole or in part, a commercial shipment of freight [that is] moving in commerce” or “in the supply chain”
  • Cleared exceptionally [N4]: indicator of whether the agency cleared the incident by “exceptional means,” such as declined prosecution, change in custody to another jurisdiction, or death of the offender
  • Date of exceptional clearance [N5]

Elements Collected in Other Incident-Based Reporting Systems

  • Date and time of filing of incident report [NY]: As indicated above, NIBRS allows a single date/time to be recorded, with a flag to indicate if it is the reporting time rather than the incident occurrence time. The NY system, at least, resolves ambiguity by entering two date/time combinations. In NY, the date/time of filing may also be construed as a “delimiter for the end of the incident,” for an incident occurring over a span of days (New York Office of Justice Research and Performance, 2016:4)
  • Incident case status [NY]: superset of NIBRS’s variables for exceptional clearance, allowing for coding of (normal) clearance by arrest or other statuses (i.e., warrant issued, investigation pending, closed)
  • Incident complete indicator [MI]: yes/no, where yes connotes “incident is complete, no further data to immediately follow” and no connotes “incident is not complete, supplemental data to immediately follow” (Michigan Incident Crime Reporting Unit, 2016:101)
  • Identity theft-related [TN]: yes/no flag, applicable when an incident involves certain offenses including fraud and larceny/theft, as to whether an element of identity theft was involved in the offense
  • Incident-level elements specific to family or domestic violence
    • Family violence indicator [TX]: yes/no flag, coded (or derived) when the incident includes assault, homicide, kidnapping/abduction, robbery, or sex offenses and at least one victim-offender relationship (as entered under victim attributes) is a familial or intimate partner relationship
    • Domestic violence indicator [TN]: yes/no, defined similarly to Texas’ incident-level family violence indicator; Montana’s system also includes a yes/no “domestic abuse related” per-offense variable; Michigan’s yes/no domestic violence indicator is associated with each victim
    • Previous domestic violence [TN]: yes/blank indicator to be completed only if the offense-level domestic violence flag is “yes,” if the arrestee has been arrested in previous domestic violence incidents involving the current partner/victim or anyone else
    • Warrant signed by [TN]: for domestic violence arrests only, indicator as to whether the victim, a law enforcement officer, or both signed the warrant
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
    • Was the victim transported to a safe place/away from the scene? [TN]: yes/no
    • Did incident involve a violation of an order of protection? [TN]: yes/no
  • Incident-level elements specific to officer-involved shootings
    • Officer-involved shooting flag [TN]: yes/no
    • Outside investigation? [TN]: yes/no, whether the incident/shooting was investigated by an outside agency
    • Officer sequence number [TN]: sequential number assigned to each officer who fired a weapon during the incident
    • Officer’s weapon type [TN]: firearm (type unknown), handgun, rifle, shotgun, other firearm (machine gun, bazooka, etc.)
    • Number of shots fired by the officer [TN]
    • Distance between officer and suspect, in feet [TN]
    • Officer’s type of assignment [TN]: uniform, plain clothes, special assignment
    • Multiple agencies involved [TN]: yes/no, whether officers who fired weapons during the incident were from different law enforcement agencies
    • Officer’s number of years on force [TN]: years of employment with current agency
    • Incident level [TN]: indication of whether incident was a felony or a misdemeanor
    • Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA) involvement [TN]: yes/no flag, yes if victim was law enforcement officer

C.2.2 Per-Offense Attributes, General

Points of Agreement Between Recommended Classification and NIBRS

  • UCR Offense code [N6]: Entry of an offense code is not explicitly rendered in our recommended attribute list—treating codes and attributes as coequal parts of overall classification—but is certainly tacit. New York’s system requires coding from a state-issue coded law file (denoting the section of law and the degree of the offense), which also subsumes the attempted/completed flag mentioned below. A separate variable is required for larceny-type offenses, to match NIBRS’s categories, because these offenses cannot be distinguished by the law-file codes.
  • Offense attempted/completed [N7]: This is a case of partial agreement, in that our recommended attribute lists adds responses for threatened, not applicable, and not known
  • Apparent/suspected bias motivation [N8A]: NIBRS permits entry of up to five motivations per offense, with different categories for race/ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. At
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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  • least for the outset, our recommended attribute list suggests focusing on yes/no indicators for these higher level bias-motivation categories, as well as adding four other entries: professional affiliation (e.g., justice system/law enforcement), other bias, no apparent bias motivation, or not known

  • Type of weapon or force involved, for attack-type offenses [N13]: Combining the codes that are deemed valid for NIBRS Data Element 13 with codes derived from SHR data yields the set:

    11 Firearm (type not stated; code can include “A” suffix to indicate automatic weapon)

    12 Handgun—pistol, revolver, etc. (code can include “A” suffix to indicate automatic weapon)

    13 Rifle (code can include “A” suffix to indicate automatic weapon)

    14 Shotgun (code can include “A” suffix to indicate automatic weapon)

    15 Other firearm (code can include “A” suffix to indicate automatic weapon)

    20 Knife or cutting instrument (knives, razors, hatchets, axes, cleavers, scissors, glass, broken bottles, ice picks, etc.)

    30 Blunt object (baseball bats, butt of handgun, clubs, bricks, jack handles, tire irons, bottles, etc.)

    35 Motor vehicle (valid value in NIBRS but not SHR)

    40 Personal weapons (hands, fist, feet, arms, teeth, etc.)

    50 Poison (in SHR coding, does not include gas; death by gas would be considered 85 asphyxiation)

    55 Pushed or thrown out window (included as SHR code, but not NIBRS)

    60 Explosives

    65 Fire/incendiary device

    70 Drugs/narcotics/sleeping pills

    75 Drowning (included as SHR code, but not NIBRS)

    80 Strangulation—hanging (included as SHR code, but not NIBRS)

    85 Asphyxiation—includes death by gas

    90 Other (SHR coding includes unknown weapon; NIBRS examples include BB guns, pellet guns, tazers, pepper spray, stun guns, etc.)

    95 Unknown (valid value in NIBRS but not SHR)

    99 None (valid value in NIBRS but not SHR)

    Our recommended classification suggests a more streamlined list as a minimum:

    • No weapon or force involved
    • Weapon or force involved
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
      • Attack with firearm:16 Handgun/pistol; rifle/long gun; other/unknown
      • Attack with non-firearm weapon: Knife, cutting instrument, or sharp object; blunt object; motor vehicle; poison; fire or incendiary device; explosives; drugs or narcotics; other external weapon/force
      • Attack without external weapon: Bodily attacks (hands/fists, feet, etc.); asphyxiation or strangulation; drowning or submersion; pushing into harm’s way (e.g., from high place)
    • Unknown
  • Type of property involved (stolen, damaged, etc.) in offense [N15]: Ideally, a simplification of existing 80 or so codes, while adding “intangibles” such as intellectual property and personally identifiable information
  • Type of drug/psychoactive substance involved in offense [N20] and quantity [N21]: NIBRS includes a third element, type of drug measurement [N22], to indicate the unit of measurement; Tennessee adds specific qualifier of this being the “suspected” drug involved. Our classification recommends (but does not make explicit) a variant on the roughly 20 drug types/classes currently coded in NIBRS; in the current NIBRS, up to 3 drug types can be specified and an indicator raised to indicate involvement of more than 3 drug types.

Attributes in Recommended Classification but Not in NIBRS

  • Victim/offender situation: Summary indicator of whether offense involves single or multiple victims, and single, multiple, or an unknown number of offenders
  • Group support/motivation: Indicator of whether offense is organized (gang-related, organized-crime related, terrorism-related, unknown organized involvement), unorganized, not applicable, not known
  • Cybercrime-related: Yes/no flag indicates whether the use of computer data or computer systems was an integral part of the modus operandi of the offense. This variable disentangles elements in the curious NIBRS Data Element 8, “offender suspected of using” alcohol, drug/narcotics, or computer equipment and so might be considered a partial match.

Data Elements in NIBRS but Not in Recommended Classification

  • Type criminal activity/gang information [N12]: Complicated element that applies only to 8 NIBRS categories for which up to 3 types of activity (e.g., buying/receiving, exploiting children, operating/promoting/assisting), or only to 11 additional NIBRS offenses for which up to 2 gang

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16 Virginia’s incident-based system includes an indicator as to whether the firearm used is an automatic weapon.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
  • information codes can be indicated (juvenile gang, other/adult gang, none/unknown). Our recommended attribute list includes a streamlined group support/motivation attribute, described above.

  • Elements applicable only to burglary offenses:
    • Number of premises entered [N10]: used only when “Hotel Rule” applies
    • Method of entry [N11]: force or no force
  • Type of property loss [N14]: e.g., burned, destroyed/damaged/vandalized, seized. This information is assumed to be conveyed through the offense code.
  • Number of stolen and recovered motor vehicles [N18, N19]
  • Value of property [N16]: total dollar estimate, with default value of $1 if unknown (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015:105); exception for entry generally made for drugs/narcotics seized in a drug offense (e.g., in Tennessee)
  • Date property recovered [N17]

Elements Collected in Other Incident-Based Reporting Systems

  • Home invasion [TN]: yes/no flag applicable to burglary and robbery offenses only, defining “home invasion” as occurring “when one or more subjects enter an occupied dwelling with the intent to commit an offense therein, and in the course of their entry or presence in the dwelling, commit one or more violent offenses (e.g., rape, assault, etc.) against the occupants of the dwelling” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (2013:13)
  • Type of security used at scene of offense [VA]: up to 2 entries, from alarm/audio, alarm/silent, bars/grate, camera, dog, deadbolt, locked, unlocked, exterior lights, interior lights, fence, guard, Neighborhood Watch, other, none
  • Offender’s method of entry/exit to building/structure [VA]: up to 2 codes for entry and 2 for exit, from: front, rear, side, attic, vent/air conditioner, window, door, patio/sliding door, balcony/fire escape, attached garage, wall, vehicle, floor, roof/skylight, hidden within, other, unknown
  • How offender left scene [VA]: auto, truck, van, motorcycle, bicycle, foot, moped, other, unknown
  • Involvement of other factors [MT]: in addition to a yes/no flag for “domestic abuse related,” Montana’s system requires yes/no answers to the involvement of three other factors in each offense: gang related, gambling related, and mental health related. The Montana system also includes an indicator as to whether the offense was investigated by or referred to the state’s Drug Task Force.
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
  • Other means of valuation of property involved in offense:
    • Property value over $500 [TN]: may be hard-coded yes/no, or derived from entry for total value of property
    • Recovered value [TN]: value of recovered stolen property, which can be less than or equal to the estimated value lost
  • Other means of quantifying information about drugs/controlled substances involved in offenses:
    • Type of drug/narcotic seized in a drug case [TX]
    • Estimated quantity of drug/narcotic, and type of measurement used in that quantity, seized in a drug case [TX]
    • Drug origin type [TN]: clandestine lab, diverted, illegally imported (from any site outside the immediate area of the drug seizure, not necessarily from outside the U.S.), indoor grow, outdoor grow
    • Nature of marijuana seized, and number of such sites [TN, TX]: Texas’ system includes two variables indicating whether the marijuana was found in gardens, cultivated fields, wild fields, or greenhouses, and the number of such cultivation sites seized; Tennessee’s asks “where the majority of the plants were found, the number of plots, and, if known, the longitude and latitude of the plots,” as well as a basic flag as to whether the plants were being grown outdoors, indoors, or both (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 2013:34)
    • Number of clandestine labs seized [TX]
    • Type of drug manufactured in seized clandestine labs [TX]: methamphetamine, amphetamines, phenylacetone (P2P), phencyclidine (PCP), crack cocaine, other
    • Methamphetamine precursor [TN]: for use only when the drug type is methamphetamine and the drug origin type is clandestine lab; possible values are single entity tablet/capsule; combination tablet/capsule; gelcap; liquid; unknown/not present
    • Quantity of precursor chemical seized, and unit of measurement used in that quantity [TX]
    • Source of drug data [NY]: indicator of whether the information about drugs seized during an incident is an estimate (by the officer or agency) or a laboratory analysis; values of “not applicable” or unknown are also permitted

C.2.3 Per-Offense Attributes, Victim/Offender Relationship

Relationship between each combination of victim and offender, for all the offenses coded within a particular incident, is certainly one of the most useful analytical variables of the resulting data and is essential to eventual reanalysis/reclassification of offense classes such as domestic or intimate partner

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

violence. Accordingly, it is an attribute that is central to our proposed classification as well as current data collection.

The alphabetic codes listed below are those used in NIBRS Data Element 35, relationship of victim to offender. The UCR’s Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) component also collects victim-offender relationship for each specific occurrence of murder, excluding some of the NIBRS codes and generally splitting relationship categories into gender-specific subcategories, as is also shown below. The SHR alphabetic codes are from Federal Bureau of Investigation (2012), which is the codebook for the most recent Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) archive of SHR data. However, it should be noted that the actual SHR instrument (the FBI’s Form 1-704) asks for free-text response in a table column headed “Relationship of Victim to Offender (Husband, Wife, Son, Father, Acquaintance, Neighbor, Stranger, etc.),” and the alphabetic codes are derived later in processing.

Within Family

SE Spouse (SHR: HU husband and WI wife)

CS Common-Law Spouse (SHR: CH common-law husband and CW common-law wife)

PA Parent (SHR: FA father and MO mother)

SB Sibling (SHR: BR brother and SI sister)

CH Child (SHR: SO son and DA daughter)

GP Grandparent (not defined in SHR)

GC Grandchild (not defined in SHR)

IL In-law

SP Stepparent (SHR: SF stepfather and SM stepmother)

SC Stepchild (SHR: SS stepson and SD stepdaughter)

SS Stepsibling (not defined in SHR)

OF Other Family Member

Outside Family But Known to Victim

AQ Acquaintance

FR Friend

NE Neighbor

BE Baby/Child in the care of a Babysitter (not defined in SHR)

BG Boyfriend/Girlfriend (SHR: BF boyfriend and GF girlfriend)

CF Child of Boyfriend or Girlfriend (not defined in SHR)

HR Homosexual Relationship (SHR uses code HO)

XS Ex-Spouse (SHR: XH ex-husband and XW ex-wife)

EE Employee

ER Employer

OK Otherwise Known

Not Known By Victim

RU Relationship Unknown (SHR: UN relationship not determined)

ST Stranger

Other

VO Victim Was Offender (not defined in SHR; meant to be invoked in such cases as “domestic disputes where both husband and wife are charged with assault, double murders

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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(two people kill each other), or barroom brawls where many participants are arrested”)

By comparison, our recommended classification suggests a slightly simplified, minimum set of categories. Specifically, our victim/offender relationship attribute codes whether the suspected perpetrator is, to the victim:

  • Stranger
  • Relative: Parent; child; sibling; grandparent; grandchild; other relative
  • Known to the victim: Current spouse or intimate partner; former spouse or intimate partner; colleague (e.g., at workplace); friend; other known person/acquaintance
  • Unknown

C.2.4 Victim Attributes

Points of Agreement Between Recommended Classification and NIBRS

  • Type of victim [N25]: Our proposed classification uses subcategories personal/individual, business, financial institution, government, religious organization, law enforcement officer, other, and unknown
  • Age of victim [N26]: Implemented in NIBRS as a two-character alphanumeric code—01–98 corresponding to years of age, NN under 24 hours, NB 1–6 days old, BB 7–364 days old, 99 over 98 years old, and 00 unknown
  • Sex of victim [N27]: Labeled “gender of victim” in proposed classification
  • Race and ethnicity (Hispanic/non-Hispanic origin) of victim [N28–29]: Proposed classification calls for categories to defined in accordance with “race/ethnicity categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau and/or required by U.S. Office of Management and Budget
  • Resident status of victim with respect to operational jurisdiction of reporting agency [N30]: resident, nonresident, unknown

Attributes in Recommended Classification but Not in NIBRS

  • Citizenship of victim: Categorized in recommended classification as U.S. (including dual with U.S.), foreign, refugee/no citizenship, and not known

Data Elements in NIBRS but Not in Recommended Classification

  • Victim sequence number [N23]: Identifier for each victim involved in incident; not explicitly rendered in our recommended classification, but tacit
  • Victim connected to UCR offense code [N24]: Up to 10 offense codes perpetrated against each specific victim
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
  • Type of injury [N33]: for 11 UCR crime types, one or more codes for the level of physical injury: none, apparent broken bones, possible internal injury, severe laceration, apparent minor injury, other major injury, loss of teeth, unconsciousness. New York’s system adds a second “level of injury” variable, with values: dead, appeared to be seriously injured, appeared to be physically injured but not seriously, not injured, not applicable, not reported, unknown. Extent of injury is integral to the revised definitions of assault in our recommended classification, hence exclusion as a separate attribute.
  • Offender number to be related [N34]: identifier of up to 10 offenders listed in data record to be associated with each victim
  • Aggravated assault/homicide circumstances [N31]: up to 2 (of 10) circumstances per victim, including argument, “lovers’ quarrel,” and mercy killing; 1 (of 5) circumstances for negligent manslaughter, including gun-cleaning accident or hunting accident; or 1 of 2 circumstances for justifiable homicide (criminal killed by private citizen or killed by officer). For homicide, the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) that is required by the UCR program even of Summary-responding jurisdictions, text responses to a “circumstance of homicide” variable are coded into a different set of codes, as described in Box C.1.
  • Additional justifiable homicide circumstances [N32]: e.g., criminal attacked police officer and was killed by another police officer or criminal attempted flight from a crime
  • Elements specific to law enforcement officers assaulted or killed in the line of duty:
    • Type of officer activity/circumstance [N25A]: for law enforcement officers assaulted or killed in line of duty, code for activity at time of the offense (e.g., responding to disturbance call, handling/transporting/custody of prisoners, ambush/no warning)
    • Officer assignment type [N25B]: e.g., one-officer vehicle (alone), two-officer vehicle, detective or special assignment
    • Officer–ORI of other jurisdiction [N25C]: ORI for officer’s home agency, if assaulted or killed in different jurisdiction

Elements Collected in Other Incident-Based Reporting Systems

  • Residence status of victim with respect to the county/city where incident took place [MI, NY]: Alternate approaches to the concept of residence status. New York’s system includes a variety of living situation codes: resident, commuter, tourist, military, student (either living outside the area or having “temporary domicile in the jurisdiction only because of school attendance”), temporary resident/foreign national, other status, homeless, not applicable, not reported, unknown (New York Office of Justice
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
  • Research and Performance, 2016:60). Michigan’s victim residence variable is narrower, permitting values of: resident of community/city/town of occurrence; resident of county but not the community of occurrence; resident of state but not the county or community of occurrence; out of state; unknown.

  • Attributes specific to victimizations of college students:
    • Is victim a college student? [TN]: yes/no; Tennessee requires that agencies report “information for college students attending colleges/universities located in the same COUNTY as the agency (even if the college is in a different CITY)” (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 2013:49)
    • Name of college or university [TN]: if victim is a college student
    • Did the offense occur on campus? [TN]: yes/no
    • Victim type code [TN]: student, faculty/staff, guard/security, other

C.2.5 Offender Attributes

Points of Agreement Between Recommended Classification and NIBRS

  • Age of offender [N37]
  • Sex of offender [N38]: As gender of offender
  • Race and ethnicity (Hispanic/non-Hispanic) of offender [N39 and 39A]

Attributes in Recommended Classification but Not in NIBRS

  • Type of offender: Same categorization as type of victim, and important to retain as standalone attribute to emphasize classification’s coverage of nonperson actors.
  • Residence status of offender with respect to operational jurisdiction of reporting agency
  • Citizenship status of offender

Data Elements in NIBRS but Not in Recommended Classification

  • Offender sequence number [N36]: identifier for each offender involved in incident
  • Elements specific to arrestee, as distinct from suspected offender:
    • Arrestee sequence number [N40]: identifier for each arrestee involved in incident
    • Arrest transaction number [N41]: unique identifier assigned by agency to arrest report; Tennessee’s system includes provision for entering the state-assigned control number from an arrestee’s fingerprint card
    • Arrest date [N42]
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×
    • Type of arrest [N43]: on-view arrest (apprehension without warrant/previous incident report), taken into custody (apprehension based on warrant/previous incident report), or summoned/cited (not taken into custody)
    • Multiple arrestee segments indicator [N44]: if an arrest is related to multiple incidents (different data records), then this variable is intended to be coded C for “count arrestee” in one incident and M (“multiple”) in any other incidents, so that arrests are not multiply counted
    • UCR arrest offense code [N45]: single, most serious offense for which offender was arrested
    • Arrestee was armed with [N46]: code for type of weaponry, if any, arrestee was carrying at time of arrest
    • Age of arrestee [N47]
    • Sex of arrestee [N48]
    • Race and ethnicity of arrestee [N49–50]
    • Resident status of arrestee with respect to operational jurisdiction of reporting agency [N51]: resident, nonresident, unknown
    • Disposition of arrestee under 18 [N52]: handled within department (e.g., released to parents or released with warning) or referred to other authorities (e.g., referred to juvenile court)
    • Arrest clearance indicator (yes/no) and specific UCR offense code cleared by arrest

Elements Collected in Other Incident-Based Reporting Systems

  • Offender condition [NY]: meant to characterize the “alleged condition” of each offender, with values as follows: appears to be impaired with drugs, appears to be impaired with alcohol, appears to be mentally disordered, appears to be injured/ill, apparently normal, not reported, unknown (New York Office of Justice Research and Performance, 2016:51)
Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
×

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×
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×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25035.
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Next: Appendix D: Remaining Methodology and Implementation Issues for Modern Crime Statistics »
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To derive statistics about crime – 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 statistics—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 —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.

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