NCJ Number
44541
Date Published
1931
Length
210 pages
Annotation
A 1931 REPORT ON CRIMINAL STATISTICS DISCUSSES THE IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICS AND PROVIDES A SURVEY OF CRIMINAL STATISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES AND A CRITIQUE OF FEDERAL CRIMINAL STATISTICS.
Abstract
STATISTICS TO BE GATHERED, COMPILED, AND PUBLISHED AUTHORITATIVELY AT REGULAR INTERVALS FALL UNDER THREE MAIN HEADINGS: CRIME AND CRIMINALS, PROSECUTION, AND PENAL TREATMENT. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL STATISTICS CITED INCLUDE: CENTRALIZED COMPILATION AND PUBLICATION OF CRIMINAL STATISTICS; A CORRELATION OF STATE STATISTICS AND OF STATE AND FEDERAL STATISTICS IN ONE FEDERAL BUREAU; UTILIZATION OF STATISTICAL EXPERTS TO COLLECT DATA INTO A GENERAL PLAN FOR COUNTRYWIDE PURPOSES; A CHECK ON THE DIFFERENT AGENCIES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE BY NOT CONFIDING THE COMPILATION AND PUBLICATION OF STATISTICS TO ANY BUREAU OR AGENCY WHICH IS ENGAGED IN ADMINISTERING THE CRIMINAL LAW; AND A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR AN ULTIMATE COMPLETE BODY OF STATISTICS, COVERING CRIME, CRIMINALS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE, AND PENAL TREATMENT. A SURVEY OF CRIME STATISTICS, I.E., STATISTICS OF OFFENSES OF VARIOUS SORTS THAT ARE KNOWN TO THE POLICE, WAS FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES NONEXISTENT IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE TIME OF WRITING. STATISTICS EXISTED FOR NO ENTIRE STATE AND FOR ONLY 14 CITIES, AND WHERE THEY DID EXIST, THEIR ACCURACY WAS DOUBTFUL. THIS SURVEY EXAMINES POLICE, COURT, ADULT PROBATION, AND INSTITUTION STATISTICS. THE ONLY CRIMINAL STATISTICS PRINTED IN 1931 THAT WERE BOTH ADEQUATE AND COMPARABLE ON A NATIONAL SCALE WERE THOSE CONTAINED IN THE FEDERAL DECENNIAL AND ANNUAL CENSUSES OF PRISONERS IN INSTITUTIONS. STATISTICS OF COURT PROCEEDINGS WERE COMPILED FOR ALL THE PRINCIPAL TRIAL COURTS IN MANY STATES AND MADE ACCURATE INTRASTATE COMPARISONS POSSIBLE, BUT THEY LACKED STANDARDIZATION BETWEEN STATES. POLICE AND PROBATION STATISTICS WERE LACKING BOTH IN STANDARDIZATION AND IN STATEWIDE COMPILATION. THE CRITIQUE OF FEDERAL CRIMINAL STATISTICS EXAMINES THEN-EXISTING PRINTED SOURCES CONTAINING THE DETAILS OF THE APPLICATION OF THE FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW AND THE FEDERAL CRIMINAL STATISTICS, TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT THEY FULFILL THE FUNCTONS WHICH MAY PROPERLY BE DEMANDED OF ADEQUATE CRIMINAL STATISTICS IN GENERAL. ADEQUATE CRIMINAL STATISTICS SHOULD FULFILL THE FOLLOWING THREE FUNTIONS: (1) PROVIDE THE BASIC DATA FOR ESTIMATING THE VOLUME AND TRENDS OF CRIMINALITY; (2) PERFORM THE ROLE OF AN ACCOUNTING SYSTEM FOR ALL THE GOVERNMENTAL PROCESSES PERTAINING TO THE PHENOMENON OF CRIME (I.E., RECORDING THE ACTIVITIES OF THE VARIOUS GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES); AND (3) PROVIDE A COMPOSITE PICTURE OF THE MANNER OF MEN WHO COMMIT INFRACTIONS AND INDICATE BROADLY SOME OF THE CAUSATIVE FACTORS AT WORK UPON SUCH INDIVIDUALS. THE REPORT STATES THAT THE EXAMINED FEDERAL STATISTICS FULFILLED NONE OF THESE FUNCTIONS SATISFACTORILY. THE ONLY DATA ON THE VOLUME AND CHARACTER OF CRIMINALITY WERE CONTAINED IN STATISTICS OF CRIMINAL CASES COMING BEFORE THE COURTS. THE ABSENCE OF POLICE STATISTICS AND STATISTICS OF THE PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE, INCLUDING STATISTICS OF PROSECUTION, DID NOT REVEAL WHAT STEPS WERE TAKEN BY THE POLICE AGENCIES AND BY THE AUTHORITIES CONCERNED IN THE PRELIMINARY PROCEDURES. THE ONLY DATA RELATING TO OFFENDERS WERE THOSE PROVIDED BY THE PRISON STATISTICS; THEY WERE, FOR THE MOST PART, INCOMPLETE AND INACCURATE. APPENDIXES INCLUDE SUPPORTING MATERIALS AND REFERENCES.