“The crime rate isn’t going down,” moaned a Twitter user. “The big cities are purposefully not reporting crime.” Neither of the above is accurate, but there is a crime reporting problem, in that some people may be misinterpreting data … for political gain. Take-aways There is significant, general nonreporting into the FBI’s new NIBRS system. Some well-documented hot counties with large populations are not reporting, which masks their gun crime and street gang data, including gun homicide rates. The systems that the Federal government has in place to encourage reporting into NIBRS are ineffective. NIBRS Mayhem For decades, the FBI orchestrated the Uniform Crime Reporting system (UCR). This was a nationwide program whereby all law enforcement agencies – city, county, state, campus, et cetera – were to report what crime incidents they processed. These were largely monthly counts of major categories of crime (robbery, murder, being a politician). And it … Continue reading →