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Plan9 · 07-17-2011, 09:50 PM

Indeed.

The limitations of the UCR definition for "Forcible Rape" (their term for that particular index crime) are quite clear and nobody in the criminal justice field outside of Alabama would argue that it shouldn't be updated to reflect all the hot-hot non-consensual sodomy here in 2010. That aside, I wouldn't get too frazzled about the scope of the UCR as it has several gigundo facets that you have to know before you get excited about any info it contains:

1. It only includes crimes (29 categories total) that are reported to the police and properly documented (most crimes, particularly rape, go unreported as people are either unaware that they can report the crime, ashamed of what happened, scared of the police or somehow involved in the crime itself)
2. It is strictly voluntary for law enforcement agencies to report data (it has a high participation rate, but obviously not close to 100%)
3. It only includes and only includes the "top" crime (for example, if a woman is raped and murdered, only the murder counts).

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is run by the Census Bureau (obviously non-law enforcement) tool one uses to compare for queries regarding crime reporting frequency. If 10 rapes are reported to the police and 50 are reported in the NCVS, the odds of a 100 rapes having had actually occurred is pretty good. Or so DoJ estimates. The NCVS has limitations, too. I mean, it's a survey. False reports, telescoping--you name it.

You can argue that the UCR/NCVS are inaccurate tools with shitty definitions... because they are... but they're all we've got right now.

...

I won't get into the "definition of rape" thing because it includes a whole lot of stuff I beat to death in college.

"Requisite penetration," the "sexual assault threshold," and the old "Is it rape if she regrets it later?" bomb.

...

And you can hardly blame UCR stats for the dry coffers of local and state law enforcement agencies.

No local taxes, no justice. It has more to do with the shitty economy, the housing crash in particular.

07-17-2011, 09:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
Plan9 I Confess a Shiver	Indeed. The limitations of the UCR definition for "Forcible Rape" (their term for that particular index crime) are quite clear and nobody in the criminal justice field outside of Alabama would argue that it shouldn't be updated to reflect all the hot-hot non-consensual sodomy here in 2010. That aside, I wouldn't get too frazzled about the scope of the UCR as it has several gigundo facets that you have to know before you get excited about any info it contains: 1. It only includes crimes (29 categories total) that are reported to the police and properly documented (most crimes, particularly rape, go unreported as people are either unaware that they can report the crime, ashamed of what happened, scared of the police or somehow involved in the crime itself) 2. It is strictly voluntary for law enforcement agencies to report data (it has a high participation rate, but obviously not close to 100%) 3. It only includes and only includes the "top" crime (for example, if a woman is raped and murdered, only the murder counts). The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is run by the Census Bureau (obviously non-law enforcement) tool one uses to compare for queries regarding crime reporting frequency. If 10 rapes are reported to the police and 50 are reported in the NCVS, the odds of a 100 rapes having had actually occurred is pretty good. Or so DoJ estimates. The NCVS has limitations, too. I mean, it's a survey. False reports, telescoping--you name it. You can argue that the UCR/NCVS are inaccurate tools with shitty definitions... because they are... but they're all we've got right now. ... I won't get into the "definition of rape" thing because it includes a whole lot of stuff I beat to death in college. "Requisite penetration," the "sexual assault threshold," and the old "Is it rape if she regrets it later?" bomb. ... And you can hardly blame UCR stats for the dry coffers of local and state law enforcement agencies. No local taxes, no justice. It has more to do with the shitty economy, the housing crash in particular. __________________ *Whatever you can carry.* "You should not drink... and bake." Last edited by Plan9; 07-18-2011 at 08:47 AM..