NCJ Number
150421
Date Published
1991
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the data on crime and offenders compiled by criminal justice agencies; some attention is given to victim and offender surveys.
Abstract
Official statistics are an important source of information on crime and offenders for a variety of reasons. They are virtually the only dependable source of information on the operation of the justice system. They are the best source of information on trends in specific types of crime, and they provide the most extensive, and probably the most dependable, information on the characteristics of persons accused of or involved in criminal activity. Following a brief history of crime statistics in the United States, the chapter describes the uses of crime statistics. A section on specific crime statistics programs considers the characteristics and limitations of the Uniform Crime Reporting program, homicide (mortality) statistics of the National Center for Health Statistics, the National Crime Survey, juvenile court statistics, and punishment statistics. Although technically not crime statistics programs, two competing sources of quantitative information about criminal activity are considered: self-report studies, in which criminologists ask people about some of the criminal or delinquent acts they have committed; and criminal history files and other programs designed to record the disposition of criminal charges following arrest and adjudication. The chapter concludes with a discussion of crime statistics in the next century. The author argues that criminal justice record statistics cannot replace victimization surveys or programs designed to provide statistics on offenses coming to official attention; however, their development may be the most effective way to obtain some national, State, and local statistics on the activities of criminal courts and their probation departments.