Although many criminologists tend to overlook the measurement of crime, crime data is essential in evaluating the effectiveness of public policies. Sources of crime data include factors such as survey of victims, self-reports from offenders and police reports. One strategy used to measure crime is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR). This involves adding together major crimes reported to the police, who later present the information to the FBI, who publish the findings. The Uniform Crime Report gives information on trends and patterns of various offense categories. It also gives patterns depicting the overall crime trend. The other strategy used in measuring crime is the National Crime Victimization Survey. Studies reveal that only a portion of crimes is normally reported to the police. Therefore, if the country needs a more accurate count, it needs to conduct scientific surveys of populations, and ask people whether they have been victims of crime (Maxfield & Babbie, 2012).

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Only some crimes may be reported to the police while other may not. This may happen when victims consider a crime a personal matter, and they choose to deal with the issue in a different manner instead of involving the police. Victims may report only some crime to the police because they consider other forms of crime not necessary to report. Only some crime may be reported to the police because of the reluctance to get the offender in trouble (Maxfield & Babbie, 2012).

An evaluation of statistics found in the Criminal Justice Statistics source book depicts the importance of such information for criminal justice professionals. Researchers and academicians in the field of criminal justice can make use of the sourcebook because it tracks and highlights some important indicators of crime (Maxfield & Babbie, 2012). The source book has proven to be an excellent source for obtaining graphics and information on the levels of crime.

    References
  • Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2012). Basics of research methods for criminal justice and criminology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.