Uniform Crime Reporting in Madison County

Uniform Crime data is submitted monthly by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.  At the end of each year the State of Idaho begins the final validation process of that years numbers.  By April 1 of the following reporting year the validation process is finalized. That is when the State of Idaho validates the agencies total statistics for the year in question.  The state then compiles crime profiles state wide and publishes the statistics.  The Uniform Crime Report statistics are published in the Crime in Idaho yearly publication and then that publication is put on the State web site.  Those statistics are only reflective of the year in question.

The numbers are an accurate account of arrests and case clearance for the year in question; however, the numbers may change after the April 1 validation if a crime is committed but the arrest isn’t made until the next reporting year.  If that happens, the case is still cleared.  However, the clearance will not be reflected in the UCR final report publications from the year the crime was reported.  The state can not go back and republish the book and change the web site each time an agency clears a case. We submit arrest information monthly so the actual clearance rates will always change as cases are solved.  That is one of the reasons using crime reporting numbers as a basis to determine if an agency is effective in crime solvability is difficult, at best.

What is Uniform Crime Reporting?

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) is a city, county and state law enforcement program.  This program includes a nation wide view of crime based on the submission of statistics by law enforcement agencies through out the country.  The Crime data is submitted to the state program and then is sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, which began in 1929, collects information about crimes reported to the police. In 1982, BJS and the FBI sponsored a study of the UCR Program with the objective of revising it to meet law enforcement needs into the 21st century. A 5-year redesign effort to provide more comprehensive and detailed crime statistics resulted in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) which collects data on each reported crime incident. The UCR Program is currently being expanded to NIBRS.

Currently under the Summary system, law enforcement authorities aggregate the number of incidents by offense type monthly and report these totals to the FBI. Under incident-based reporting, agencies will provide an individual record for each crime reported.

The Summary UCR Program collects offense information on the eight Part I crimes of homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. It provides limited information about offenses, victims and offenders, and includes reported arrests for 21 additional crime categories. Under NIBRS, law enforcement authorities will provide information to the FBI on each criminal incident involving 46 specific offenses, including the 8 Part I crimes that occur in their jurisdiction. Details about each incident include information about multiple victims and offenders. Arrest information on the 46 offenses plus 11 lesser offenses is also provided in NIBRS.

A more detailed definition of Uniform Crime Reporting can be found at the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Crime_Reports

The following link provides the Idaho crime definitions

http://www.isp.state.id.us/pgr/Research/NIBRS_000.html

Crime Data Warning

Each year when Crime in the United States is published, many entities –news media, tourism agencies, and other groups with an interest in crime in our Nation use reported figures to compile rankings of cities and counties.  These rankings, however, are merely a quick choice made by the data user; they provide no insight into the many variables that mold the crime in a particular town, city, county, state, region or other jurisdiction.  Consequently, these rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affection cities and counties, along with their residence.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/about/variables_affecting_crime.html