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Church Crime Report -
Analysis of the recently released National Incident-Based Reporting System files from the FBI
by Chuck Chadwick
In 2010 we released an article relating on the National Incident-Based Reporting System files and Uniform Crime Reports (UCRs) from the FBI and what it could tell us about crimes against churches.
t that time the most recent data that had been release was for 2008. In November of 2011 the 2009 data was released and we are now running analysis on this huge amount of data. (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/)
Preliminary findings:
- There were 21,740 departments inputting data on millions of crimes.
- There are 5,052,752 crime records in the database.
- There were 23,547 crimes attributed to location code for "Church/ Synagogue/Temple".
- Comparison to the previous year's number it appears there has been an overall decrease of 4 percent.
Here is a comparison and breakdown of the number of crime reports for 2008 and 2009:
|
Year |
Year |
|
| | |
2008 |
2009 |
Change |
% change | | |
7852 |
7209 |
-643 |
-8% |
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property | |
5239 |
5322 |
83 |
2% |
Burglary/Breaking and Entering | |
3646 |
3174 |
-472 |
-13% |
All Other Larceny | |
2043 |
1927 |
-116 |
-6% |
Theft From Building | |
1248 |
1431 |
183 |
15% |
Theft From Motor Vehicle Theft of Motor Vehicle | |
1040 |
1042 |
2 |
0% |
Simple Assault | |
398 |
496 |
98 |
25% |
Intimidation | |
541 |
421 |
-120 |
-22% |
Parts/Accessories | |
314 |
347 |
33 |
11% |
Drug/Narcotic Violations | |
367 |
341 |
-26 |
-7% |
Motor Vehicle Theft | |
218 |
204 |
-14 |
-6% |
Aggravated Assault | |
139 |
174 |
35 |
25% |
Shoplifting | |
129 |
171 |
42 |
33% |
Counterfeiting/Forgery | |
212 |
167 |
-45 |
-21% |
False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game | |
114 |
146 |
32 |
28% |
Forcible Fondling (Indecent Liberties/Child Molesting) | |
126 |
132 |
6 |
5% |
Drug Equipment Violations | |
136 |
119 |
-17 |
-13% |
Arson | |
101 |
111 |
10 |
10% |
Robbery | |
81 |
90 |
9 |
11% |
Weapon Law Violations | |
63 |
81 |
18 |
29% |
Embezzlement | |
76 |
71 |
-5 |
-7% |
Credit Card/Automatic Teller Machine Fraud | |
58 |
63 |
5 |
9% |
Stolen Property Offenses (Receiving, Selling, Etc.) | |
49 |
52 |
3 |
6% |
Purse-snatching | |
64 |
51 |
-13 |
-20% |
Forcible Rape | |
47 |
50 |
3 |
6% |
Impersonation | |
21 |
31 |
10 |
48% |
Kidnapping/Abduction | |
22 |
30 |
8 |
36% |
Forcible Sodomy | |
34 |
26 |
-8 |
-24% |
Pocket-picking | |
10 |
25 |
15 |
150% |
Statutory Rape | |
13 |
12 |
-1 |
-8% |
Theft From Coin-Operated Machine or Device | |
11 |
8 |
-3 |
-27% |
Sexual Assault With An Object | |
2 |
6 |
4 |
200% |
Prostitution | |
12 |
5 |
-7 |
-58% |
Pornography/Obscene Material | |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0% |
Extortion/Blackmail | |
5 |
3 |
-2 |
-40% |
Murder/Non-negligent Manslaughter | |
8 |
2 |
-6 |
-75% |
Wire Fraud | |
0 |
1 |
1 |
100% |
Incest | |
0 |
1 |
1 |
100% |
Betting/Wagering | |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0% |
Assisting or Promoting Prostitution | |
1 |
0 |
-1 |
-100% |
Bribery | |
24445 |
23547 |
-898 |
-4% |
Total |
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Info on UCR from the FBI Web Site
Iit is important for users of UCR data to remember that the FBI's primary objective is to generate a reliable set of crime statistics for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management. The FBI does not provide a ranking of agencies but merely alphabetical tabulations of states, metropolitan statistical areas, cities, metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties, and colleges and universities. Law enforcement officials use this information for their designed purposes. Additionally, the American public relies on these data sets for information on the fluctuations in the level of crime from year to year, and criminologists, sociologists, legislators, city planners, the media, and other students of criminal justice use them for a variety of research and planning purposes. Since crime is a sociological phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors, the FBI discourages ranking the agencies and using the data as a measurement of law enforcement effectiveness.
To ensure these data are uniformly reported, the FBI provides contributing law enforcement agencies with a handbook that explains how to classify and score offenses and provides uniform crime offense definitions. Acknowledging that offense definitions may vary from state to state, the FBI cautions agencies to report offenses not according to local or state statutes but according to those guidelines provided in the handbook. Most agencies make a good faith effort to comply with established guidelines.
Finally, in a given year, approximately 17,000 agencies contribute data to the FBI; however, because of computer problems, changes in record management systems, personnel shortages, or a number of other reasons, some agencies cannot provide data for publication. The FBI appreciates the conscientious efforts made by law enforcement personnel throughout the nation to report accurate and reliable crime data. Their efforts make it possible for the FBI to provide assessments of the nature and type of crime in the United States. |
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Explanation of the files and data available:
There are two separate data collection methods for inclusion into the FBI UCR program.
A. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
B. The FBI's Summary Reporting System
Both are combined into one massive database. Unfortunately the data in the NIBRS is converted to
"Summary" data which strips out various fields, like the location field.
In the original NIBRS file structure there is a field called "Location", which is where the offense occurred.
Location code "4" is Church/Synagogue/Temple
Justice Department/FBI files: As you read, there are several master files for each year. Most hold the data of those law enforcement agencies that contribute their UCR data via the traditional Summary Reporting System. Only the data of agencies that contribute to the UCR Program via the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) reside in the NIBRS Flat File. For example, in 2008, approximately 39 percent of the Nation's law enforcement agencies participating in the UCR Program submitted their data via the NIBRS, and the crime data collected via the NIBRS comprised approximately 26 percent of the data submitted to the FBI. (That's why we qualify the NIBRS Flat File as not yet being nationally representative.) Although NIBRS was intended to eventually replace the Summary Reporting System (because it's an automated system that offers more detailed data), the national program currently converts the NIBRS data to Summary data to continue the long-running series for data publication. It also includes the converted data in the master files that contain Summary data. Therefore, the statement concerning the representation of crime data in the NIBRS Flat File applies only to that file. Other master files such as the Return A or ASR Arrests Master File include all of the offense and arrest data-as well as converted NIBRS data as applicable-from all of the agencies that participated in the UCR Program.
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What does this data represent? The 2009 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) files are available on-line and for anyone. The NIBRS data for 2009 held 5,052,752 crime reports. Per the above this equates to only 26 percent of all the data received by the FBI. This is why the FBI admits (read above) that the NIBRS data is not nationally representative off all the crime by itself. However the native NIBRS data is the only data we have that we can separate church crimes from others, before the conversion to Summary data where the location codes are lost.
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