Weaknesses of the Uniform Crime Report?

Answer 1

UCR figures do not provide an annual per capita measure of crime frequency. Not all law enforcement agencies report crime to the FBI, and those that do may fail to report crime uniformly. The same kind of crime may vary in definition among jurisdictions. The UCR only reports arrests, not the actual amount of crime, meaning if someone is arrested for robbery, but possess burglary tools, a concealed weapon, and stolen property, all of these events are crimes, but robbery would be the only one reported on the UCR.

Answer 2

A: The UCR is used to measure the overall rate crime in the United States by categories known to the police. Some of the shortcomings of the UCR would be that it is dependent on the crimes reported. Many crimes are not even reported to the police by the victims. Victims may feel embarrassed, depending on the type of crime committed. Many also feel that the police might not be able to help in any way after the crime, so they feel no need to report it. Studies also have shown that police underreport some crimes in certain instances such as when offences happen within the family. Furthermore, law enforcement also has different terminologies for a crime, and can get categorized differently and therefore keep crime rates artificially low.

Answer 3

Not all crimes are reported