Evening star., 1947-09-24
Misleading Crime Comparisons

The principal conclusion to be drawn
from Federal Bureau of Investigation sta
tisticS showing a relatively high crime
record for Washington is that crime COM
parsons among cities on the basis of
police reports are unreliable. How un-
reliable they can be is indicated by the
discrepancies between the FBI figures on
''offenses known to police" and those of
our own police department. The chances
are that if the FBI undertook to conduct
a similarly thorough check of the crime
reporting systems of all cities, Washington
no longer would stick out like sore thumb,
as it does in the Uniform Crime Reports
semiannual bulletin.
What seems to have been overlooked by
many persons is that the FBI bulletin
which shows Washington leading all other
cities of comparable size in the fields of
robbery, aggravated assault and burglary
is based Except in the case of Washing
tom, on unverified figures submitted to
the FBI by police under voluntary re-
porting system. This system was set up
some years ago by the FBI with the CO.
operation of the International Association
of Chiefs of Police. The idea was to en-
courage the systematic recording of crimes
according to a uniform code, so that
broader and more intelligent picture of
crime in the United States would be
available.
But from the very start of the project
the FB1 has cautioned against use of the
figures in comparing crime rates as be-
tween reporting cities This was not only
because of such varying factors as size
and nature of population, police strength
and efficiency and public attitude to-
ward law enforcement" but to the in
eScapable fact that voluntary reporting
leaves much to be desired from the stand
point of statistical accuracy. 1t is for these
reasons, therefore, that the FBI in its
latest bulletin, as in all previous ones,
recommends that the records be used to
determine variations in the crime rate OF
particular city, rather than as yardstick
for determining the relative standing of
cities with respect to crime. Thus, the
figures may reflect accurately an upward
trend of crime in one city, while they may,
at the same time be worthless as means
of comparing the amount of crime in that
city with another of comparable size.
1t is obvious that the FBI figures show
Ing the amount of crime in Washington
during the first six months of this year,
however accurate, are not a fair index
either of the crime trend here or of this
city's relative position among the cities
included in the crime tabulation. Because
for the first time in the history of uniform
crime reporting, Washington's figures, in
stead Of being those voluntarily reported
by the police under an outmoded system,
are those obtained by the FBI in a careful
review requested by Chief Barrett. There
is no reason to believe that had Washing
tons crime reports for previous years been
prepared by the FBI, the crime trend here
would have been much different from the
rational trend, which was slightly down.
ward
What the F'BI figures do show, however,
is the need for modernization of the local
reporting sySten-a project already under
way-and for general overhaul of the
uniform crime reporting procedures in
other cities. And the crime figures for
Washington speak for themselves. That
they can be reduced there can be no
doubt. More effective police protection will
help lot to bring the totals down-and
one prerequisite of more effective policing
is as Maj. Barrett says, enough policemen
to cover the beats adequately. A strong,
efficient police department is the best
antidote for rising crime rates.