Uniform Crime Reports - UCR Crime Categories

UCR Crime Categories

For reporting purposes, criminal offenses are divided into two major groups: Part I offenses and Part II offenses.

In Part I, the UCR indexes reported incidents in two categories: violent and property crimes. Aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder, and robbery are classified as violent while arson, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft are classified as property crimes. These are reported via the document named Return A - Monthly Return of Offenses Known to the Police. Part 1 crimes are collectively known as Index crimes, this name is used because the crimes are considered quite serious, tend to be reported more reliably than others, and are reported directly to the police and not to a separate agency (ex- IRS) that doesn't necessarily contribute to the UCR.

In Part II, the following categories are tracked: simple assault, curfew offenses and loitering, embezzlement, forgery and counterfeiting, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, drug offenses, fraud, gambling, liquor offenses, offenses against the family, prostitution, public drunkenness, runaways, sex offenses, stolen property, vandalism, vagrancy, and weapons offenses.

Two property reports are also included with the Return A. The first is the Property Stolen by Classification report. This report details the number of actual crimes of each type in the Return A and the monetary value of property stolen in conjunction with that crime. Some offenses are reported in greater detail on this report than on the Return A. For example, on the Report A, burglaries are divided into three categories: Forcible Entry, Unlawful Entry - No Force, and Attempted Forcible Entry. On the Property Stolen by Classification report, burglaries are divided into six categories based on location type and the time of the offense. Offenses are counted in residences with offense times of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Unknown Time and Non-residences with the same three time groupings.

The second property report is the Property Stolen by Type and Value report. The monetary value of both stolen and recovered property are totaled and classified as one of eleven property types:

• Currency, Notes, Etc.
• Jewelry and Precious Metals
• Clothing and Furs
• Locally Stolen Motor Vehicles
• Office Equipment
• Televisions, Radios, Stereos, Etc.
• Firearms
• Household Goods
• Consumable Goods
• Livestock
• Miscellaneous

The FBI began recording arson rates, as part of the UCR, in 1979. This report details arsons of the following property types:

• Single Occupancy Residential (houses, townhouses, duplexes, etc.)
• Other Residential (apartments, tenements, flats, hotels, motels, dormitories, etc.)
• Storage (barns, garages, warehouses, etc.)
• Industrial/Manufacturing
• Other Commercial (stores, restaurants, offices, etc.)
• Community/Public (churches, jails, schools, colleges, hospitals, etc.)
• All Other Structures (out buildings, monuments, buildings under construction, etc.)
• Motor Vehicles (automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, etc.)
• Other Mobile Property (trailers, recreational vehicles, airplanes, boats, etc.)
• Other (crops, timber, fences, signs, etc.)