Local Level Crime Patterns: Comparing Police Incident Reports and Victimization Reports

• In Event: Studying Victimization Patterns with Local Level Victimization Surveys

Abstract

Two of the prime measures of crime in society are derived from official police reports and victimization survey reports. Prior research at the national level indicates general consistency between the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey, though with differences between crime types. Such comparisons have been limited at the local level due to the lack of availability of victimization surveys at the local level. This study provides a picture of crime patterns in one city in Michigan provided by comparison of local police crime incident reports with a victimization survey conducted with adult residents of the city. The study focuses on the consistency, or lack thereof, between relative levels of different crime types using these two measurement sources.

Author

• Gregory Drake, Michigan State University