[dc0415]

Arson was added to the Part One Index Crimes in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Is arson serious enough to be in this category, along with murder and rape? Are there other reasons it should or should not be a Part One Index Crime?

[RickJ]

Which UCRP are you speaking about? The FBI has one, as do States.

[dc0415]

Both federal or state, many States are changing to.

[RickJ]

Apparently both seriousness and frequency are taken into consideration as far as what is deemed a Part I, Index Crime.

Missouri's UCRP (see page 6) was the first one I ran into, and they do state "definitions are required of all law enforcement agencies nationwide. In some cases they differ from those in Missouri law."...

But back to your post; as far as seriousness goes, I'd personally call Arson more serious than burglary or motor vehicle theft, which are Part I Index Crimes

[dc0415]

The UCR Program collects offense information for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. These are Part I offenses and are serious crimes by nature and/or volume. Not all crimes, such as embezzlement, are readily brought to the attention of the police. Also, some serious crimes, such as kidnapping, occur infrequently. Therefore, the UCR Program limits the reporting of offenses known to the eight selected crime classifications because they are the crimes most likely to be reported and most likely to occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparison.

Arson was not originally part of the crime reporting process. Arson became the eighth Part I crime as the result of a limited congressional mandate in October 1978. With the passage of the Anti-Arson Act of 1982, Congress permanently designated arson as a reportable offense.

As for arrest information, the UCR Program collects arrest data on Part I offenses and 21 other crimes, such as driving under the influence, that are Part II offenses. Simple assault is a Part II offense but is collected under 4e (Other Assaults–Simple, Not Aggravated) as a quality control matter and for the purpose of looking at total assault violence.

[kp2171]

Uniform Crime Reports- Frequently Asked Questions

OK. You copied your last post from a link. I thought there for a minute you had actually engaged in the question, but you simply cut and pasted from a webpage...

so are you just posting questions without original thought or opinions?


I guess at face value arson doesn't seem to be on the "same level" as murder or rape... very violent crimes against persons and not things. And with other crimes against persons being part two (simple battery, simple assault, other sex offenses not rape, etc), it seems out of place at face value.

the only thing that raises arson to a higher level crime is the real potential for loss of life (tennants, fire fighters, police)... but do you categorize a crime with rape and murder based on potential?

well, having said all this... the intent of the index is to measure the "criminal temperment" of a community. It isnt to say rape = murder = arson... if motor vehicle theft and larceny can be considered part one, why not arson? As mentioned, there are other crimes against persons that are part two. Obviously that isn't the criteria.

so the real question you should be asking is what crimes best define the criminal temperament of a society?

[kp2171]

also, having looked at all of your other posts, you might find it useful to engage in the dialogue a bit.

for the most part you are just posting questions, and that's fine. But you'll probably get better responses if this doesn't appear to be simply posting homework questions.

I know... you do volunteer work. I read that post too.

but most people who start questions here are engaged in the discussion. At face value it looks like you either don't care to engage in the questions you are bringing up, or you are just trying to get others views. Again... seems like trolling for homework answers, even if its not.

[ScottGem]

Plagiarism is frowned on here. While there is usually nothing wrong with cutting and pasting text from a website, you should give credit and list the site you copied from.

I totally agree with KP that your questions are very fishy.