Violent crime includes murder, rape and sexual assault, robbery, and assault. Information about murder is obtained on a yearly basis from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports. There are two measures for nonfatal violence—the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS measures rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault.
The Nation's Two Crime Measures
- BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) - reported and unreported crime from the victim's perspective
- FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) - crimes reported by law enforcement
Like many other indicators used to assess conditions in the United States, these two indicators of crime complement each other to produce a more comprehensive portrait of the nation's crime problem.
Some of the differences between UCR and NCVS are—
| UCR | NCVS | |
| Geographic coverage | National and state estimates, local agency reports | National estimates |
| Collection method | Reports by law enforcement to the FBI on a monthly basis | Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 240,000 persons in about 150,000 households. |
| Measures | Index crimes* reported by law enforcement | Reported and unreported crime; details about the crimes, victims, and offenders |
*seven serious crimes
For more information about the purposes and advantages of the UCR and the NCVS, see The Nation's Two Crime Measures.
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Terms & Definitions
Aggravated assault
An attack or attempted attack with a weapon, regardless of whether the victim is injured, or an attack without a weapon when serious injury results.
Assault
An unlawful physical attack or threat of attack. Assaults may be classified as aggravated or simple. Rape, attempted rape, and sexual assaults are excluded from this category, as well as robbery and attempted robbery. The severity of assaults ranges from minor threats to nearly fatal incidents.
Hate crime victimization
Prevalence rate
Rape
Forced sexual intercourse including both psychological coercion and physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral penetration by the offender(s). This category also includes incidents where the penetration is from a foreign object, such as a bottle. Includes attempted rape, male and female victims, and both heterosexual and same sex rape. Attempted rape includes verbal threats of rape.
Robbery
Completed or attempted theft, directly from a person, of property or cash by force or threat of force, with or without a weapon, and with or without injury.
Completed/property taken - The successful taking of property from a person by force or threat of force, with or without a weapon, and with or without injury.
Completed with injury - The successful taking of property from a person, accompanied by an attack, with or without a weapon, resulting in injury.
Completed without injury - The successful taking of property from a person by force or threat of force, with or without a weapon, but not resulting in injury.
Attempted to take property - The attempt to take property from a person by force or threat of force without success, with or without a weapon, and with or without injury.
Attempted without injury - The attempt to take property from a person by force or threat of force without success, with or without a weapon, but not resulting in injury.
Attempted with injury - The attempt to take property from a person without success, accompanied by an attack, with or without a weapon, resulting in injury.
Simple assault
Attack without a weapon resulting either in no injury, minor injury (e.g., bruises, black eyes, cuts, scratches, or swelling), or an undetermined injury requiring fewer than two days of hospitalization. Also includes attempted assault without a weapon.
With minor injury - An attack without a weapon resulting in injuries such as bruises, black eyes, cuts, or an undetermined injury requiring fewer than two days of hospitalization.
Without injury - An attempted assault without a weapon but not resulting in injury.
Violence, crimes of
Completed violence - The sum of all completed rapes, sexual assaults, robberies, and assaults. See individual crime types for definitions of completed crimes.
Attempted/threatened violence - The unsuccessful attempt of rape, sexual assault, personal robbery, or assault. Includes attempted attacks or sexual assaults by means of verbal threats. See individual crime types for definitions of attempted crimes.