Criminal Data Comparison

Paper Summary:

The paper uses the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data to compare the occurrence of motor vehicle theft in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area and the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. The paper looks briefly at the factors that influence the rate of crime and notes that crime statistics help law enforcement officials and direct areas of improvement for social policy makers and the criminal justice system.

From the Paper:

"The Houston metropolitan area had a total of 31,177 actual motor vehicle thefts reported in 2003. This rates out at 615 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 inhabitants. The Phoenix metropolitan area, with 1.5 million fewer people had a total of 44,582 actual reported motor vehicle thefts in 2003. This rates out at 1,257.8 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 inhabitants. In Houston, Texas, alone there were 21,451 reported motor vehicle thefts in 2003 and 21,563 in 2004. In Phoenix, Arizona, in 2003 there were 25,651 reported motor vehicle thefts and 24,869 in 2004. It is interesting to note that the motor vehicle theft clearance rate is 13.1 percent. This type of crime shares the lowest clearance rate with burglary, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, 2003 (Uniform Crime Reports, 2003)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation, (2003). Uniform crime reports. Retrieved Oct. 12, 2005, from http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/03cius.htm.
• Schmalleger, F. (2006). Criminology today: an integrative approach. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-170210-6.

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