# Offense Definitions for Uniform Crime Reporting

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program divides offenses into two
groups, Part I and Part II crimes. Each month, participating law
enforcement agencies submit information on the number of Part I offenses
known to them; those offenses cleared by arrest or exceptional means;
and the age, sex, and race of persons arrested for each of the offenses.
Contributors provide only arrest data for Part II offenses.

The UCR Program collects data about **Part I** offenses in order to
measure the level and scope of crime occurring throughout the Nation.
The Program's founders chose these offenses because they are serious
crimes, they occur with regularity in all areas of the country, and they
are likely to be reported to police. The **Part I** offenses are:

**Criminal homicide**―a.) Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter: the
willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another. Deaths
caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, and
accidental deaths are excluded. The Program classifies *justifiable
homicides* separately and limits the definition to: (1) the killing of a
felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty; or (2) the
killing of a felon, during the commission of a felony, by a private
citizen. b.) Manslaughter by negligence: the killing of another person
through gross negligence. Deaths of persons due to their own negligence,
accidental deaths not resulting from gross negligence, and traffic
fatalities are not included in the category Manslaughter by Negligence..

**Forcible rape―**The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against
her will. Rapes by force and attempts or assaults to rape, regardless of
the age of the victim, are included. Statutory offenses (no force
used―victim under age of consent) are excluded.

**Robbery―**The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the
care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of
force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

**Aggravated assault―**An unlawful attack by one person upon another for
the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type
of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means
likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Simple assaults are
excluded.

**Burglary (breaking or entering)**―The unlawful entry of a structure to
commit a felony or a theft. Attempted forcible entry is included.

**Larceny-theft (except motor vehicle theft)**―The unlawful taking,
carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or
constructive possession of another. Examples are thefts of bicycles,
motor vehicle parts and accessories, shoplifting, pocket-picking, or the
stealing of any property or article that is not taken by force and
violence or by fraud. Attempted larcenies are included. Embezzlement,
confidence games, forgery, check fraud, etc., are excluded.

**Motor vehicle theft**―The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
A motor vehicle is self-propelled and runs on land surface and not on
rails. Motorboats, construction equipment, airplanes, and farming
equipment are specifically excluded from this category.

**Arson**―Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or
without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor
vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.

The **Part II** offenses, for which only arrest data are collected, are:

**Other assaults (simple)**―Assaults and attempted assaults which are
not of an aggravated nature and do not result in serious injury to the
victim. Stalking, intimidation, coercion, and hazing are included.

**Forgery and counterfeiting**―The altering, copying, or imitating of
something, without authority or right, with the intent to deceive or
defraud by passing the copy or thing altered or imitated as that which
is original or genuine; or the selling, buying, or possession of an
altered, copied, or imitated thing with the intent to deceive or
defraud. Attempts are included.

**Fraud―**The intentional perversion of the truth for the purpose of
inducing another person or other entity in reliance upon it to part with
something of value or to surrender a legal right. Fraudulent conversion
and obtaining of money or property by false pretenses. Confidence games
and bad checks, except forgeries and counterfeiting, are included.

**Embezzlement**―The unlawful misappropriation or misapplication by an
offender to his/her own use or purpose of money, property, or some other
thing of value entrusted to his/her care, custody, or control.

**Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing**―Buying, receiving,
possessing, selling, concealing, or transporting any property with the
knowledge that it has been unlawfully taken, as by burglary,
embezzlement, fraud, larceny, robbery, etc. Attempts are included.

**Vandalism**―To willfully or maliciously destroy, injure, disfigure, or
deface any public or private property, real or personal, without the
consent of the owner or person having custody or control by cutting,
tearing, breaking, marking, painting, drawing, covering with filth, or
any other such means as may be specified by local law. Attempts are
included.

**Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc.**―The violation of laws or
ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation,
possession, concealment, or use of firearms, cutting instruments,
explosives, incendiary devices, or other deadly weapons. Attempts are
included.

**Prostitution and commercialized vice**―The unlawful promotion of or
participation in sexual activities for profit, including attempts. To
solicit customers or transport persons for prostitution purposes; to
own, manage, or operate a dwelling or other establishment for the
purpose of providing a place where prostitution is performed; or to
otherwise assist or promote prostitution.

**Sex offenses (except forcible rape, prostitution, and commercialized
vice)---O**ffenses against chastity, common decency, morals, and the
like. Incest, indecent exposure, and statutory rape are included.
Attempts are included.

**Drug abuse violations**―The violation of laws prohibiting the
production, distribution, and/or use of certain controlled substances.
The unlawful cultivation, manufacture, distribution, sale, purchase,
use, possession, transportation, or importation of any controlled drug
or narcotic substance. Arrests for violations of state and local laws,
specifically those relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use,
growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The following drug
categories are specified: opium or cocaine and their derivatives
(morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics―manufactured
narcotics that can cause true addiction (demerol, methadone); and
dangerous nonnarcotic drugs (barbiturates, benzedrine).

**Gambling**―To unlawfully bet or wager money or something else of
value; assist, promote, or operate a game of chance for money or some
other stake; possess or transmit wagering information; manufacture,
sell, purchase, possess, or transport gambling equipment, devices, or
goods; or tamper with the outcome of a sporting event or contest to gain
a gambling advantage.

**Offenses against the family and children**―Unlawful nonviolent acts by
a family member (or legal guardian) that threaten the physical, mental,
or economic well-being or morals of another family member and that are
not classifiable as other offenses, such as Assault or Sex Offenses.
Attempts are included.

**Driving under the influence**―Driving or operating a motor vehicle or
common carrier while mentally or physically impaired as the result of
consuming an alcoholic beverage or using a drug or narcotic.

**Liquor laws**―The violation of state or local laws or ordinances
prohibiting the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession,
or use of alcoholic beverages, not including driving under the influence
and drunkenness. Federal violations are excluded.

**Drunkenness**―To drink alcoholic beverages to the extent that one's
mental faculties and physical coordination are substantially impaired.
Driving under the influence is excluded.

**Disorderly conduct**―Any behavior that tends to disturb the public
peace or decorum, scandalize the community, or shock the public sense of
morality.

**Vagrancy**―The violation of a court order, regulation, ordinance, or
law requiring the withdrawal of persons from the streets or other
specified areas; prohibiting persons from remaining in an area or place
in an idle or aimless manner; or prohibiting persons from going from
place to place without visible means of support.

**All other offenses**―All violations of state or local laws not
specifically identified as Part I or Part II offenses, except traffic
violations.

**Suspicion**―Arrested for no specific offense and released without
formal charges being placed.

**Curfew and loitering laws (persons under age 18)**―Violations by
juveniles of local curfew or loitering ordinances.

**Runaways (persons under age 18)**―Limited to juveniles taken into
protective custody under the provisions of local statutes.