Introduction
Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and the National Crime Investigation Survey (NCIS) are methods that are used by the government of the United States of America to collect data that involve crimes. The National Incident-Based Reporting System is a technological method used by the government, still in the United States of America to monitor and assist in the gathering of the necessary information regarding the crime. The Uniform Crime Report annually publishes statistical crime information which acts as an indication of the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ reflection on the local crimes as well as other crime and law investigating agencies in the United States of America (Siegel, 40).
There are many kinds of crimes that UCR focuses on. The major ones include homicide, robbery, forcible rape, non-negligent manslaughter, burglary, assaults, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Most of the work done has been appreciated by the residents of the United States, especially in the reduction of crimes and investigations that are carried out to establish the criminal’s activities. With the help of the National Incident-Based Reporting System, the government has been able to have a track of the crimes and forecast the future solutions regarding crimes of the same nature.
The strengths and weakness
The Uniform Crime Report, the National Incident-Based Report System as well as the National Crime Investigation Survey have not been without areas of strength and weaknesses (Siegel, 36). Regarding the strengths, it has made it possible for the government to predict the crimes and therefore develop a plan to deal with them when they occur, as well as come up with some mitigating measures for the safety of the citizens. Also, the departments above have strength in that it has recruited the best personalities to work with, thereby making sure that they are very effective and that they perform their duties with integrity. Considering the sensitivity of the work done by the departments, it requires professionalism to be applied with strict adherence to the codes and ethics that manage human conduct.
The other strength is that the government of the United State is seriously involved in ensuring security to the citizens. It, therefore, prioritizes the security needs and has instilled a lot of funds in the necessary departments. The government also ensures that it provides up-to-date equipment to realize the most effective results. The United States government has a good economy. This enables it to give all the required financial assistance to the necessary departments and organs that govern security detail in the country. This has moreover made it to be termed as a strong nation.
The other strength is that the United States of America is highly technological and therefore capable of deploying the most effective equipment such as surveillance machines and other computerized gadgets. In other countries where the technology is low, it may not only be difficult but also impossible for the maintenance of such a criminal report system. The possession of people who are highly knowledgeable in the production of software for crime investigation is also a strength for the National Incident-Based Reporting System.
On the other hand, the departments have several weaknesses that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. They include the failure by the UCR to report all crimes because it only reports the crimes that have been registered with the law enforcement agencies (Tibbetts and Hemmens, 13). This makes the report vague and inaccurate because it leaves many other crimes that go unreported to any law enforcement agency. Consequently, the reported cases fail to acknowledge others that go together. For instance, if someone dies of being attacked in a car theft robbery, the possibility will be that the crime that will be reported is the death crime. Therefore when it comes to the analysis of the crimes, so many others will have been left out. This does not make it to the level of justice that is needed in the world.
On the other hand, the report is selective on the crimes to be reported. The reporting of the rape cases seems most affected by this nature of selectivity. The UCR has its definition of rape as carnal knowledge of forced sex against the will of an individual. This definition seems unsatisfactory because it leaves the burden of proving the forcible nature of the rape case to the person raped. In case there is no tangible prove the case is discarded by the UCR. There is also a weakness in that it does not report rape cases against men and people of the same sex.
The other weakness is that the UCR reports crimes that have only been entered into the police records. This means that any of the crime that is not registered there is discarded and therefore the report given will not be a true reflection of the crime itself.
The departments are faced with the inability to detect and unfold some hi-tech crimes that are sometimes committed by experts or with their assistance. They include terrorism, cyber security threats, and white-collar crimes among many others. They also suffer weaknesses in that some people in the departments are intelligent, and they, therefore, sell out to the enemies. These actions are against the wishes and operations of the departments that are concerned with monitoring security in the country. They, therefore, derail their efforts
Conclusion
This data can be of great importance to crime analysis. The realization of the strengths and weaknesses gives a strategy that can be used in the management of these organizations. For instance, the analysis should emphasize the use of high technology, a possibility in the United States, to report crimes. On the other hand, the crime analysis should scrutinize the weakness and improve on them with all possibilities. On the weaknesses that seem inevitable, some mitigating measures should be adopted to ensure that crime is reduced. When all these factors are put under consideration, improvement of the departments is ensured.
Works cited
Siegel, Larry. Essentials of Criminal Justice. New York: Cengage Learning Press, 2008.
Siegel, Larry. Introduction to Criminal Justice. New York: Cengage Learning Press, 2009.
Tibbetts, Stephen & Hemmens, Craig. Criminological Theory: A Text/Reader New. York: SAGE Press, 2009.