Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2

To derive statistics about crime – to estimate its levels and trends, assess its costs to and impacts on society, and inform law enforcement approaches to prevent it – a conceptual framework for defining and thinking about crime is virtually a prerequisite. Developing and maintaining such a framework is no easy task, because the mechanics of crime are ever evolving and shiftin tied to shifts and development in technology, society, and legislation. Interest in understanding crime surged in the 1920s, which proved to be a pivotal decade for the collection of nationwide crime statistics. Now established as a permanent agency, the Census Bureau commissioned the drafting of a manual for preparing crime statistics—intended for use by the police, corrections departments, and courts alike. The new manual sought to solve a perennial problem by suggesting a standard taxonomy of crime. Shortly after the Census Bureau issued its manual, the International Association of Chiefs of Police in convention adopted a resolution to create a Committee on Uniform Crime Records —to begin the process of describing what a national system of data on crimes known to the police might look like. Report 1 performed a comprehensive reassessment of what is meant by crime in U.S. crime statistics and recommends a new classification of crime to organize measurement efforts. This second report examines methodological and implementation issues and presents a conceptual blueprint for modernizing crime statistics. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Introduction2 "Traditional" and "New" Crime: Structuring a Modern Crime Statistics Enterprise3 Coordination and Governance of Modern National Crime StatisticsReferencesAppendixesAppendix A: Charge to the Panel on Modernizing the Nation's Crime StatisticsAppendix B: Historical Themes in the Development of U.S. Nationa lCrime StatisticsAppendix C: Coverage of Recommended Crime Classification in Current Crime StatisticsAppendix D: Remaining Methodology and Implementation Issues for Modern Crime StatisticsAppendix E: Excerpted State Legal Requirements for Crime ReportingAppendix F: Cautionary Tales from International Experience: Police-Report Crime Statistics in the United KingdomAppendix G: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and StaffCommittee on National Statistics