tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post70666627316075419..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Is crime rising or falling? It depends which Justice Department source you askGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-20549893266158439852012-11-13T19:19:40.433-06:002012-11-13T19:19:40.433-06:00I don't remember these crime mobs a few years ...I don't remember these crime mobs a few years ago. This seems to be a new thing and it is now the accepted thing these days where 20-50 run in at one time and clean out a store and nobody knows who they are. There is too many of them (maybe they have us outnumbered) so we don't count them. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1170913858857535172012-11-13T12:40:07.494-06:002012-11-13T12:40:07.494-06:00With respect, I lean toward NCVS as the more accur...With respect, I lean toward NCVS as the more accurate picture. Self-reporting has always shown higher rates of crime because people don't report crime for a variety of reasons. (NCVS also asks people why they don't report - an interesting part of the data as well.) NCVS shows increases in assaults and other "minor" crimes which are exactly the crimes people are less likely to report. I agree that incidents of police-skewed data are few and far between so in a sense, both reports are right. Serious crime continues to decrease - the crimes most likely to come to official attention - and some types of less serious crimes show an increase even as people continue their patterns of not reporting those types of crimes. Why people don't report and what that might mean is a fascinating subject in itself.Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11746292377312056314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-81922330684989321062012-11-13T08:25:03.027-06:002012-11-13T08:25:03.027-06:00As a person that has been through the UCR training...As a person that has been through the UCR training and previously responsible for the monthly reports for 2 police agencies, the coding is left up to interpretation. While the guide book gives specific examples of each category, much remains to interpretation. Another thing about the UCR - it is outdated. It was designed in the 1940's and to date, has not been updated. Cyber crimes, for example, is not included. Rape is still defined as male on female with no exceptions for male on male, or female on male. There are many more examples that can be made, making the point that this is nowhere near the perfect solution, but it's the only one we have. When coding, the crimes Grits mentions are categorized as Part 1 crimes - this is what is reported in the media. Part 2 crimes are not reported to media but that's where several "new" crimes are posted. The UCR needs updating, but for now, it's all we have!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11147324722369131098noreply@blogger.com