Please see the guidelines for this assignment in

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SOC204-Criminology

Crime Data Paper (Step 1):

Learning Outcomes:

The goal of this exercise is for students:

• To get familiar navigating and compiling information from the Uniform Crime Report (UCR).

• Practice calculating crime rates per 100,000 inhabitants. To work on this exercise, start by reviewing in the textbook, Chapter 2, section on

“Primary Sources on Crime Data.” Also, go over the FBI/UCR website to get

familiarized with UCR crime reports by clicking on this link: http://www.fbi.gov/about-

us/cjis/ucr/word

The Assignment:

1. Collect data on violent crime from the UCR databases (for the last 10 years the data is available) to be compared between your state (for instance, Massachusetts)

and a town/city within that state (for instance, Danvers MA). Follow these steps

to collect the data:

• Go to UCR publications: https://ucr.fbi.gov/ucr-publications

• Under Crime in the United States, pick the last 10 years information is available for

instance, 2009 – 2018.

• Under each year hit “Violent Crime,” browse data by state (table 5) to find the total

of violent crime for the state for each of the years chosen. Keep in mind that besides

the total of violent crimes, you also need to collect the total population for that year

in order to calculate the rates per 100,000.

• Under each year hit “Violent Crime,” browse data by City Agency (table 8) to find

the total of violent crime for the city/town for each of the years chosen. Keep in mind

that besides the total of violent crimes, you also need to collect the total population

for that year in order to calculate the rates per 100,000.

1) Calculate rates per 100,000 inhabitants on the collected data for the state and the town/city (see textbook, Chapter 2, section on “Primary Sources on Crime Data”).

Please demonstrate that you applied the formula by showing the calculation for

the year one for the state and the town/city as this example on Alaska.

Calculation Sample: Number of violent crimes in Alaska per 100,000, year 2000. For

the assignment you must calculate the whole period.

Rate per 100,000= Number of Repeated Crimes/Total population × 100,000 =

(In the textbook page 32).

3,354/626,932 x 100,000 = 534.98

2) Present the data collected in three tables: Tables 1 and 2 (see examples below) to present information for the total violent crimes and rates per 100,000 for the state

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and for the town/city); table 3 (se example below) to compare the rates per

100,000 between the state and town/city.

3) Present a chart comparing (see example below) comparing the rates per 100,000 between the state and the town/city.

Table 1: Alaska Total Violent Crimes (VC) and rates per 100,000 2000 – 2012

Year Population Total VC Crimes per 100,000

2000 626,932 3,554 566.9

2001 633,630 3,735 589.5

2002 641,482 3,627 565.4

2003 648,280 3,877 598

2004 657,755 4,159 632.3

2005 663,253 4,194 632

2006 670,053 4,610 688

2007 683,478 4,520 661.3

2008 686,293 4,475 652.1

2009 698,473 4,424 633.4

2010 714,146 4,537 635.3

2011 723,860 4,416 610.1

2012 731,449 4,412 603.2

Table 2: Anchorage Police Dept. Total Violent Crime (VC) and Rates per 100,000 2000 –

2012

Year Population Total VC Rate per 100,000

2000 260,283 1,524 585.5

2001 263,588 1,748 663.2

2002 267,280 1,721 643.9

2003 271,085 1,744 643.3

2004 273,714 2,164 790.6

2005 276,109 2,031 735.6

2006 277,692 2,592 933.4

2007 284,142 2,405 846.4

2008 280,068 2,647 945.1

2009 283,300 2,488 878.2

2010 291,826 2,432 833.4

2011 296,955 2,388 804.2

2012 299,143 2,479 828.7

Table 3: Comparing Alaska and Anchorage Total VC per 100,000

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Chart 1: Comparing Violent Crime (Alaska vs Anchorage)

Rubric for Grading:

Total Points 7

Data: Accuracy 5

Format and presentation 2

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Alaska 566.9 589.5 565.4 598 632.3 632 688 661.3 652.1 633.4 635.3 610.1 603.2

Anchorage 585.5 663.2 643.9 643.3 790.6 735.6 933.4 846.4 945.1 878.2 833.4 804.2 828.7