Bridging Gaps in Police Crime Data: A Discussion Paper From the BJS Fellows Program

• NCJ Number: 177615
• Author(s): Michael D. Maltz
• Date Published: July 1999
• Length: 7 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Indiana University Purdue University, Research Support Funds
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: BJS Executive Summary. Paper based on a Workshop on Uniform Crime Reporting Imputation on April 24-25, 1997, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Annotation

This report describes the history of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system and the data problems that it deals with in reporting crime and arrests.

Abstract

Describes the history of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system and the data problems that it deals with in reporting crime and arrests. The report includes a description of the procedures used by the FBI to fill in gaps in the data (when they exist) and makes suggestions about how they might be improved. Since the FBI is moving to implement an improved crime and arrest reporting system, the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), to replace the UCR, a study of deficiencies in UCR data should be of use in planning for the full implementation of NIBRS. The full report is based on a joint FBI-BJS workshop on UCR imputation procedures held in April 1997, and is a discussion paper prepared by Michael D. Maltz, University of Illinois at Chicago under the BJS Visiting Fellows Program.