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Running head: UCR Data Reporting

UCR Data Reporting

Student Raymond Garcia

University of San Diego: Professional & Continuing Education

Community Assessment Crime LEPS-550-01-SU16

Professor Dr. Eric Fritzvold

July 4, 2016
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Running head: UCR Data Reporting

ABSTRACT

The Uniform Crime Reporting is an annual publication in which the Federal Bureau of

Investigation compiles the volume and rate of violent and property crime offenses for the

nation and by the state. Law enforcement agencies throughout the nation contribute and

provide crime statistical data which is analyzed and published every 12 months. The data

that is provided includes various categories which include, arrest, clearance and law

enforcement employee data. The first focus of my assignment will be on the category of

property crimes and what UCR data is available on this issue. The second focus of this

assignment will focus on what media reported data is available on this issue. The agency

that I will utilize is the Los Angeles Police Department, since this municipal agency is

responsible for policing duties in the jurisdiction that I reside in.

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Since the 1930s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has provided statistical information

on violent crime and property crime for the nation and the state. As a resident of the

City of Los Angeles, my jurisdiction is patrolled by members of the Los Angeles Police

Department. The organization itself consist of roughly 10,000 sworn officers tasked with

patrolling a variety of areas that include high crime jurisdictions. Some issues that are

frequently encountered within any part of the city, is the occurrence of property crimes,

in particular, burglaries.

In my research, I will be using crime statistics from the 2014 Uniform Crime Reporting

publication. The data is available for several categories, which include Offenses Known to

Law Enforcement, Persons Arrested, and Police Employee Data. Within these categories,

subcategories can be researched in the topics of violent crime, property crime and

clearances. Also included tables which provide comparison numbers for specific crimes

ranging in totals and by trends separated by fiscal years.

According to the UCR overview, In 2014 there were an estimated 8,277,829 property

crime offenses in the nation. The 2 year trend showed that property crime offenses

declined 4.3 percent in 2014 when compared with the 2013 estimate. The 10 year trend

showed that property crime offenses decreased 18.6 percent in 2014 when compared with

the 2005 estimate. According to the UCR by region, property crime ranged at 2710.3

per 100,000 inhabitants in the West. In California 197,039 burglaries were reported within

municipal jurisdictions. Within the City of Los Angeles in table 8 of the 2014 UCR

15,070 burglaries took place that were actually reported to law enforcement.
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Researching this subject through media provided sources, I found that Compstat was

an application that was being utilized to keep track of individual statistical information

on various crimes, which include burglaries. The utilization of Compstat has a variety

of information, which include geographic areas, violent crimes, property crimes and

arrest. This information is periodically published and the most current issue was released

for the period of May 29, 2016 through June 25, 2016. The geographic location I will

focus on is the Rampart area, where I reside.

In the publication, a variety of crimes are compared from week to week by comparison.

In the May 29, 2016 through June 25, 2016, publication, burglaries were listed by

occurrence. Compared to the previous month, there was a 42.9 increase in burglaries

according to Compstat. Prior to that in the months of April and May in 2016, there

was a 27.6 decrease in burglaries. In comparison to the 2015 and 2016 year to date

stat, there was an overall decrease in burglaries by 21.2 percent. When the 2014 year

to date Compstat statistic was included in the overall comparison there was only a

6.7 percent decrease overall in burglaries for the Rampart area.

In conclusion there are different ways to obtain statistical information on crime trends

and patterns. These methods of obtaining data through the UCR and Compstat are the

most popular way of extracting data but the data should not be considered concrete

evidence. The data provided is simply a tool to measure trends and patterns and should

not be used to reflect on the effectiveness of a law enforcement agency. The data is
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always subject to inaccuracies, which can mislead its intended audience.

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References

The Measure of Crime; Clayton Mosher; Terance Miethe; Timothy Hart(2011). The Measure
of Crime 2nd Edition/ Sage Publications; Copyright 2011, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks,
California 91320

Federal Bureau of Investigation(2016). Federal Bureau of Investigation; Uniform Report.

Retrieved from; https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-
2014/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/main

Los Angeles Police Department (2016). Los Angeles Police Department; Crime Mapping and
Compstat. Retrieved from; http://www.lapdonline.org/crime_mapping_and_compstat