Arguments over crime statistics have been raging ever since governments began counting criminal activity. In 1930 the United States congress authorized the attorney general of the United States to survey crime in America. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was chosen to implement the program. (Schmalleger p.38)The Uniform Crime Reports is the survey taken by the FBI. This measure of crime in America depends on reports to the police by victims of crimes. The UCR Program was developed by the FBI for the purpose of serving law enforcement as a tool for operational and administrative purposes. Through the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the UCR Program was developed. Later, the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) endorsed the program and acts in an advisory capacity today. Prior to 1930, no comprehensive system of crime information on a national scale existed. Now, for close to sixty years, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program has been collecting crime date from participating states, either from the individual agencies within the states or directly from state programs. Statistics are gathered on what is referred to as the "index crimes". The seven offenses comprising the crime index are murder, rape, robbery, aggravate assault, burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson was added to the offenses in 1978. Whenever complaints of crime are determined through investigation to be unfounded or false, they are eliminated from an agency's count. The number of actual offenses known is reported regardless of whether anyone is arrested for the crime, stolen property is recovered, or prosecution is undertaken. In addition, the Summary UCR Program follows what is known as the "Hierarchy Rule" which requires counting only the most serious offense in an incident, ignoring all others. However, this rule only applies to crime reporting and does not affect the number of charges for which a defendant may be pr...
