Ucr System

UCR System

Chapter 8 page 232 discusses the UCR counting system, an example of a crime committed by two men is given, the two men rob a store, kill a police officer, rob three customers, knock off merchandise from the shelves and set the store on fire, this example indicates the difficulties faced in determining the number of crimes in the above case.

One way to determine the number of crimes is to count each the crimes committed, the crimes involved in this case include arson, murder, 4 robberies (the store owner and 3 customers), vandalism and weapon charges, adding up these crimes will yield 8 crimes and given that there were two men then this amount to 16 crimes.

It is also possible to decide that only one crime was committed, however the question that would arise is what to call this crime, was it a robbery or murder crime, the number of crimes can also be determined by counting the number of victims. All the above suggestions will bring forth confusion and difficulties in recording crime. According to the article the UCR system provide a standardized way of recording crime.

According to the article the UCR system crimes should be recorded as follows:

– Violent crimes- victims are counted

– Property crimes- events should be counted

–  Multiple crimes- the serious offences should be       counted

According to the article in the case of the store robbery only the murder crime should be recorded and therefore the crime will be murder and only one crime should be recorded.

UCR System

The case provided in the question where three individuals commit a crime by breaking into a store, steal short guns, kill the store owner, steal a car, drive the wrong way and speed off. According to the UCR system there are multiple offenses and therefore only the serious crime should be recorded, this means that the serious crime in this case is murder and therefore only one crime (murder) should be recorded in this case.

REFERENCE:

Chapter 8, page 223 to 246