Criminal Reporting
Crime reporting lacks precision, and it is nearly impossible for an individual to ascertain the amount of crime is happening within a country owing to factors such as underreporting and falsification of reports. However, the government relies on a variety of data collection methods, including victimization surveys, self-report surveys, and uniform crime reporting. While these reports are different and use various ways of collecting data, some are more effective than others, and serve the principle service of providing information to the government. This paper evaluates five data collecting methods used in criminal justice.
Uniform Crime Reporting
The UCR program was initiated in 1929 through the efforts of the International Association of Chiefs of police, to satisfy the need for reliable, uniform crime statistics for the country. The UCR is the largest database used for research purposes in the United States. The program utilizes two methods of collecting data, including the traditional summary reporting system and the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The primary source of data for this program comes from data submitted by fifteen thousand law enforcement agencies, ranging from municipal to county agencies (Maxfield, 2015).
National Incidence Based Reporting System
Enforcement agencies sought the improvement of current reporting methods, especially the UCR. Through the collaboration of the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI, a blueprint based on offender case accounts and characteristics. This tool offers more specificity on the crime index, in comparison to the UCR. This specificity also focuses on the factors influencing a crime such as drugs and drugs influence. The NIBRS is similar to the UCR, only that it contains more details than the UCR (Maxfield, 2015).
Calls for Services
This system of data collection relies on the use of calls to collect data on criminal activity. Some people are of the opinion that this system is effective, given that most crimes are called in. Nonetheless, this method has limitations, given that not all calls are crime calls.
Self-Report Survey
Self-reporting from the part of the victimizer is also an important means of collecting crime data. Self-reporting on hidden crime was initially experimented on during the 1940’s. However, it was not until 1950’s that the method of simply asking the criminal of the nature of their criminal activity came into common practice. This method is ineffective given that people aggravate crime, and appear more as victims rather than the aggressor.
Victimization Surveys
The National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS) is run by the bureau of Justice Statistics and measures the yearly change in incidences of crime for a set of criminal activities. The survey is used as an indicator of incidence, distribution, trends and victimization and ultimately crime as a whole. It measures personal crimes such a rape, and assault, business crimes such as burglary, and household crimes such as burglary and larceny.
Ethical Dilemma in the Criminal Justice system
It is difficult for a criminal justice officer to deal with the occurrence of unethical behavior within the crime prevention and justice unit. While the prudent thing would be referring these incidences of unethical behavior for redress by higher authority, it is seldom that whistleblowers prosper in their careers, as they attract hatred from their co-workers. A justice officer such as a cop is expected to uphold the rule of law, by ensuring that others do not contravene the set rules as well. Dealing with a fellow officer is one of the most pertinent ethical issues in the criminal justice practice. Police officers are expected to ensure that offenses such as driving while under the influence do not occur, and when they do, to take the appropriate action to bring the perpetrator to justice, while keeping other road users safe. In the instance that a colleague in the enforcement of justice commits a similar crime, it would be difficult to effect a successful arrest on such an officer, given the relationship between colleagues (Neck & Manz, 2010). Further, officers are also prone to avoid arrest, especially if they are armed. In this case, consequentialist ethics is the most appropriate route to take, taking into consideration the action that leads to the most benefit for all involved. In this case, it would be prudent to attempt dissuading the offending officer to cease with their misdemeanor, to avoid harm. If this fails, it is prudent to take no further action to avoid antagonizing work relations.
References
Maxfield, M. (2015). Basics of research methods for criminal justice and criminology. Cengage Learning.
Neck, C. P., & Manz, C. C. (2010). Mastering self-leadership: Empowering yourself for personal excellence. Pearson.
