This document compiles criminal data from more than eighteen thousand cities, universities and colledges and counties. This document is usually published by the federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which hands it to law enforcement executives. The law enforcers will use it to study the patterns of crimes in various town then devise measures on how to control crime in those respective towns. This data is then made available for the media who can report to the public on the rise or decrease of crime in their respective towns.
Researchers also use this data to write articles for the patterns of crime and lastly students who study criminal justice can access this data and study various forms of crime, which enhances their knowledge on criminal justice. The uniform crime report program was established in 1929 by the international association of police who were interested in having uniform crime statistics for their nation. After establishment, the federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was mandated to collect, publish and archiving these statistics on behalf of the government in 1930. As a result, there are four annual publications that the federal Bureau of investors publishes namely; crime in the United States, national incident-based reporting system, law enforcement officer killed, assaulted, and hate crimes.
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Data Gathering Strategies
Data gathering refers to the process of collecting and measuring data, information or any variables that are under study in a standardized manner so that it enables the collector to test and answer research questions. There are various methods of data collection, but the ideal one in this study is an in-depth interview.
In-Depth Interview
This technique is qualitative and it involves conducting individual intensive interviews with a selected number of respondents to get their opinions on a particular subject, idea, and situation. This method is important in this study because; I can develop a rapport during interviews, and it’s a cheap method compared to other methods of data collection.
Trends in crime
In the past five years, the crime rate of major crimes has been changing across all the towns under the study that is; Happy Town, Frown Town, Smooth Town, and Cool Town. This variation in crime rate is attributed to various factors as will be discussed later in this article. The major crimes according to this article are murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft and motto vehicle theft. Below is a detailed discussion of how major crimes have been varying in last five years in each town.
Murder and Non-Negligent
From the article, happy town experiences a steady increase in murder and non-negligent crime cases in the last five years. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter crime case was not reported in 2010 in happy town, but in the following year, four cases of murder were reported then In 2012 also there were addition five cases reported which later increased to six and seven in the following two years. This represents a steady increase throughout the five years. In Frown Town, murder and nonnegligent crime cases were very low throughout all the five years. Not more than two cases were reported in the last five years. The highest being two in 2012 and 2013. In smooth town, the Murder and nonnegligent crime cases were decreasing and increasing even though the cases were minimal with the highest cases being five. Cool town, on the other hand, was the same as frown town low murder rate with highest registered cases being two in 2012 and 2013.
Forcible Rape
In Happy Town, there was a steady increase in cases of forcible rape in the last five years. The highest number of cases reported being 12 in 2014 and 2015 and the lowest being 2 in 2010. In frown town, the forcible rape cases remained almost the same (2 cases) throughout all the years with the difference being in 2011 and 2013 where only one case was reported. In smooth town, the rape cases were increasing and decreasing across all the years with the highest number being 5 in 2010 and 2015. In cool town, the scenario was the same as that of frown town.
Robbery
In Happy Town, robbery cases were increasing in the all five years with the highest number of cases being 56 in 2015 and the least being 36 in 2010. In frown town, the cases were fluctuating throughout all the five years with the highest number of cases being 34 in 2015 and the least being 8 in 2010. In smooth town, in smooth town, the cases were fluctuating in the first three years then increased steadily in the last three years with the highest number (10) being registered in 2015. In cool town, the statistics were the same as frown town.
Aggravated Assault
Aggravated assault cases in Happy Town, the were increasing steadily in all five years with the highest number (86) of cases being reported in 2015 and the lowest being 72 in 2010. In frown town, the cases were increasing all through the five years apart from the last year it dropped. The highest number (65) of cases was registered in 2014 with the lowest 53 being reported in 2010 and 2015. In smooth town, the assault cases were increasing all through the years with the highest number (80) of cases being reported in 2015 and the lowest being 75 in 2011. In cool town, the statistical cases were the same as that in frown town.
Burglary
In happy town, burglary cases were generally increasing in all the five years with the highest number (19) of cases being reported in 2014 and the lowest 10 in 2010. In frown town, the cases were fluctuating throughout the years with the highest 18 in 2012 and the lowest 10 in 2010. In smooth town, the cases were fluctuating with the highest being 19 in 2014 and lowest 10 in 2010. In cool town, the statistical cases were the same as that in frown town.
Larceny- Theft
Theft cases in Happy Town were fluctuating in all the five years with the highest being 205 cases in 2014 and the lowest 162 in 2010. In frown town, the theft cases were fluctuating in all the five years with the highest being 143 in cases in 2014 and the lowest 126 in 2015. In smooth town, the theft cases were fluctuating in all the five years with the highest being 167 cases in 2014 and the lowest 161 in 2011 and 2015. In cool town, the statistical cases were the same as that in frown town.
Motor Vehicle Theft
In Happy Town, vehicle theft cases were fluctuating in all the five years with the highest being 22 cases in 2014 and the lowest 17 in 2010. In frown, the vehicle theft cases were fluctuating in all the five years with the highest being 22 cases in 2014 and the lowest 17 in 2010. In smooth town, the theft cases were fluctuating in all the five years with the highest being 21 cases in 2011 and the lowest 17 in 2010 and 2014. In cool town, the statistical cases were the same as that in frown town.
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