John Smith
CJS/200
Crime Reporting and Rates Response
The purpose of major crime reporting is to have a system in place that can produce statements on crimes based on statistics recorded by law enforcements agencies. This allows people to see what the crime is looking like in that area and make and adjustment to help resolve the problems. It is very important for a person looking for a new home to look at these reports before purchasing a home in that neighborhood. High crime rates not only are dangerous for your family, but it also can affect your premiums on your insurance because insurance agencies use these reports also. I think the system is working correctly if it does what it is supposed to do. If it steers a family with kids away from a bad neighborhood to a good one, then the reports were successful. These systems also inform family’s when it is time to move out of their current neighborhood. If the report starts to show an increased rate of crime, a family might want to make a decision to move to a better neighborhood. The uniform crime report measures crimes based on the offense. For example, a crime such as assault, murder, and rape is measured in the number of victims. Crimes such as burglary or robbery are measured in the number of incidents. Clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are cleared by the total number of crimes recorded and are used by various criminal justice groups to measure the number of crimes solved by the police. As for a way to improve the correlation between crime rates, arrest rates, and clearance rates; I would have to say that I am not sure. The system on this is doing a good job but crimes are on the increase so it makes it extremely hard to judge.
References
Website (http://www.ehow.com/about_6656767_define-uniform-crime-report.html)
Article: Define Uniform
References: Website (http://www.ehow.com/about_6656767_define-uniform-crime-report.html) Article: Define Uniform Crime