The UCR Program provides crime counts for the nation as a whole, as well as for regions, states, counties, cities, and towns. This permits studies among neighboring jurisdictions and among those with similar populations and other common characteristics. UCR findings for each calendar year are published initially in a preliminary release in the spring followed by a detailed annual report, Crime in the United States, issued in the summer following the calendar year. Other special reports are also available from the UCR Program. Households stay in the sample for 3 years and are interviewed at 6-month intervals.
New households rotate into the sample on an ongoing basis.
The NCVS collects information on crimes suffered by individuals and households, whether or not those crimes were reported to law enforcement. It estimates the proportion of each crime type that was reported to law enforcement, and it details the reasons given by victims for reporting or not reporting. Questions recently added to the survey cover the experiences of victims with the criminal justice system, details on self-protective measures used by victims, and possible substance abuse by offenders. Periodically, supplements are added to the survey to obtain detailed information on special topics such as school crime. Each year BJS staff develop Special and Technical Reports on specific crime topics.