Citation

Jr RJB, Grasmick HG. J. Crim. Justice 1993; 21(5): 509-516.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(93)90035-L

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Although the description of crime trends is one of the most basic goals of criminological research, this task of obvious importance has proved to be extremely problematic due to the incompatible definitions and associated measurement errors contained in the most widely available datasets, such as the Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Survey. Although recent research has attempted to overcome these problems by incorporating the UCR and NCS estimates into a single multiple-indicator model, this does not resolve the problem for local agencies for which only a single estimate (i.e., the UCR) is generally available. This note argues that the relatively recent availability of calls-for-service data in many jurisdictions provides an opportunity for a multiple-indicator estimation of these trends at the local level. The approach is illustrated with data collected over a 22-month period in Oklahoma City.