Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2: New Systems for Measuring Crime
English
By (author): and Medicine Committee on Law and Justice Committee on National Statistics Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Engineering National Academies of Sciences Panel on Modernizing the Nation's Crime Statistics
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 statisticsintended 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.
Table of Contents- Front Matter
- Summary
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Traditional and New Crime: Structuring a Modern Crime Statistics Enterprise
- 3 Coordination and Governance of Modern National Crime Statistics
- References
- Appendixes
- Appendix A: Charge to the Panel on Modernizing the Nation's Crime Statistics
- Appendix B: Historical Themes in the Development of U.S. Nationa lCrime Statistics
- Appendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime Statistics
- Appendix D: Remaining Methodology and Implementation Issues for Modern Crime Statistics
- Appendix E: Excerpted State Legal Requirements for Crime Reporting
- Appendix F: Cautionary Tales from International Experience: Police-Report Crime Statistics in the United Kingdom
- Appendix G: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff
- Committee on National Statistics