Introduction to Criminal Justice

Recognizing Crime Trends

Follow this link to the FBI 2014 Uniform Crime Report:

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/violent-crime

Read the "Overview" included on the first page and view the "Five-Year Trend Violent Crime Offense Figure" at the bottom of the page. Next, go to Table 4 on the right hand side of the page and follow the link to additional crime statistics by Region, Geographic Division, and State. Find the area that you live in or an area you are interested in examining and review the statistics. Next, go to Table 6 on the right hand side of the page and follow that link to additional crime statistics by Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Find the area that you live in or are interested in and review the statistics. Feel free to navigate around the website and view any information that interests you.

Once you have reviewed the information, answer the following questions in the form of an essay:

1. Did anything about the Five Year Violent Crime Offense Figure surprise you?
2. Think about the information you hear regarding violent crime every day from all forms of the news media, social web site platforms and just in talking to your friends, family and other associates. Does what you hear on a daily basis from all of these sources give you the impression that violent crime has gone down significantly?
3. Discuss the general trends that you see on Tables 4 and 6 as to where in the country violent crime is trending up or down. Identify the areas such as "Northeast", "South" or name the states and what the trends seem to be.
4. Explain in detail what you think causes the differences in perception and reality in regards to violent crime. Use information from your text, the lectures and your personal experiences.
5. Describe in detail why is it important to have and use complete and accurate crime data. What can it be used for? What mistakes could be avoided if the crime information is accurate and complete? What would the advantage be to an individual or group to misstate crime volume and trends?

Your paper must be formatted in the following manner:

• The paper must be 400 words in length. Only the body of the paper counts towards the length. No information that belongs on a title page or reference page will count towards the length requirement.
• Use Times New Roman 12 point font, and double-space your lines.