Index Crimes and
Uniform Crime Reports

WHAT ARE INDEX CRIMES?

In order to compare statistical information on a national basis it was necessary to come up with a common definition for crime comparison. One that would transcend individual state statues, that would ignore how the individual is charged, and create a standardized definition of crime classification. This was done through defining serious and non-serious offenses.

Part I crimes are comprised of serious felonies and Part II crimes are comprised of non serious felonies and misdemeanors. Together these two types of classifications make up the crimes reported in the Uniform Crime Reports.

WHAT ARE UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS ?

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) is a Federal law enforcement program that provides a nationwide view of crime based on the submission of statistics by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. The committee on UCR of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) developed and initiated this voluntary national data collection effort in 1930 and still continues to advise the FBI on the conduct of the UCR program. The FBI collects and compiles data for law enforcement administration, operation, and management to give indications to the fluctuations in the level of crime in America.

UNDERSTANDING THE "HAZARD COLUMN"

On this UCR report, you may notice that the last column is called "Hazard". This column refers to the amount of reports that were filed in each census tract regarding assaults made on officers. While this information is important for the Police Department to track, it does not have a direct relationship to the amount or type of crime in the census tract. Since Hazard reports are considred Part II crimes, they are not included in this particular UCR report, which only reports Part I crimes. When looking for crime totals for each tract, the hazard column should be disregarded.

Officer Hazard reports are considered a part II crime. To see how many of these hazard reports were filed in your census tract, select "December" and "Year to Date" and the number in the final column will show you the entire year. If you are interested in looking at officer hazards from a more detailed, citywide perspective, the Annual Report statistics section has this information in a chart called "Assaults Made on Officers."

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FBI Uniform Crime Reporting