Crime Data Comparison

Crime Data Comparison

In today's society, it is important that government agencies have a tool that helps compile data of crimes committed in what areas they are committed in, and how law enforcement agencies enforce the law. Utilizing the FBI Uniform Crime Report data, better known as the UCR, this paper will compare forcible rape of two metropolitan cities with similar populations between the years of 2009 and 2010. Doing so, relate which city had more incidents reported and what are the rates of crime for each area. This paper will compare New Orleans, Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee, for those years. In addition, review if the rates changed over time in either area along with what factors may explain the differences in the rates that crimes are reported. Finally, discuss why the UCR statistics are not totally accurate although compiled by government agencies.

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is an annual Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI publication that summarizes the incidence and rate of reported crimes through the Unites States (fbi.gov). Forcible rape, as defined in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Attempts or assaults to commit rape by force or threat are also included in this category. According to this report, there was an estimated five percent lower report of forcible rapes reported to law enforcement in 2010 than in 2009 throughout the United States (fbi.gov).

In Memphis, Tennessee, which includes principal or surrounding cities in 2009, there were 382 reported cases of forcible rape in the city limits with a total of 553 estimated totals in the entire area. With the rate per 100,000 inhabitants, this crime measured 42.6 %. During the same period in New Orleans, there were 98 forcible rapes reported in the City Limits with a total of 282 reported cases in the entire metro area. The rate per 100,000 inhabitants in this area measured to 23.9 %.

In 2010, Memphis residents reported 422 forcible rapes within the city limits with the total of 598 totals estimated in the entire area. The rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the area measured 46.1 %. In New Orleans, during that same period, 144 cases were reported in the city limits with 307 total estimated in the area. The rate per 100,000 inhabitants measured to 25 %.

According to these statistics, in both the year of 2009 and 2010, Memphis, Tennessee, had more reported incidents of forcible rape. In 2009 Memphis averaged 18.7 percent more reports than that of what was reported in New Orleans. In 2010, Memphis averaged 20.5 % more reports of forcible rape than in the New Orleans area. In all, although Memphis, Tennessee, and New Orleans, Louisiana, are comparable in population, the rate of forcible rapes reported far outweighs those reported in Louisiana. Furthermore, when comparing the 2009 and 2010 statistics in Memphis