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| UCR and Prosecution |
I'm always stressing the disconnect
between UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting)
and prosecution, because you'll be working
with police officers, and supervisors, who
just never seem to get it. Once you clearly
understand the separation, you'll be
frustrated with the seeming inability of
others to understand that separation.
Some police officers will even argue with
prosecutors over criminal charges because
of a UCR classification. When the officer
is met with a blank look from the
prosecutor, the officer will go away angry
complaining about the prosecutor's
incompetence or lack of interest. The
prosecutor couldn't care less about UCR
crime classifications, because UCR has
nothing to do with prosecution.
between UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting)
and prosecution, because you'll be working
with police officers, and supervisors, who
just never seem to get it. Once you clearly
understand the separation, you'll be
frustrated with the seeming inability of
others to understand that separation.
Some police officers will even argue with
prosecutors over criminal charges because
of a UCR classification. When the officer
is met with a blank look from the
prosecutor, the officer will go away angry
complaining about the prosecutor's
incompetence or lack of interest. The
prosecutor couldn't care less about UCR
crime classifications, because UCR has
nothing to do with prosecution.
Here's a scenario which should make the separation crystal clear. As a
police officer you'll be executing a lot of arrest warrants. Once you
serve an arrest warrant, it will be your responsibility to write a police
report to document the service of the warrant. If the original offense
occurred in your jurisdiction, you'll document the service in a follow-up
report to the original report. In this scenario, you receive an arrest
warrant for an armed robbery; whereupon, you locate and arrest the
suspect named in the warrant. However, when you try to locate the
original robbery report, you discover that no police report of the robbery
was ever made. Unfortunately, most police officers will simply take the
path of least resistence by writing a miscellaneous report of service and
leave it at that.
Since you're not one of most, you decide to locate the victim of the
robbery to determine why the crime was never reported. You're pleased
to learn that the unreported crime was not due to a police officer
downgrading a crime. In fact, the victim never even contacted or
involved police in any way. The victim in this scenario knew the
suspect's name, age, and residence. Immediately following the offense,
the victim responded directly to the appropriate court official where he
wrote a statement of probable cause and submitted it to the court
commissioner, magistrate, etc. for review. The court official reviewed
the probable cause, determined the appropriate criminal charge(s), and
issued an arrest warrant for the suspect/defendant. The arrest warrant
subsequently came into your possession for service.
As far as the robbery incident in this scenario is concerned, the
prosecution phase is a done deal. The prosecutor will plea bargain or
prosecute this case solely on the contents of the victim's probable cause
statement. So... why should you go to the trouble of investigating and
reporting a crime that's already been solved and in the criminal justice
pipeline awaiting adjudication? The answers are really pretty simple.
First, it's your job to investigate and document crimes committed in
your area of responsibility. Second, while the crime is in the pipeline, it
never traveled through your portion of the pipeline where the crime is
counted by UCR. Third, and most importantly, your investigation will
give police knowledge of the crime, and your investigation could produce
even more evidence in support of the victim's allegations. Beyond that,
the suspect in the robbery could well be responsible for other previously
reported robberies, and your investigation could solve those crimes
resulting in additional charges against the suspect.
You might be asking, "How could the victim skip reporting the robbery
and go directly to the court?" Again, police and courts are separate
entities. If you ever attend a court proceeding held in a courtroom
which is housed within, or adjacent to, a police facility, the judge will
probably open the session with a statement explaining that the court is
in no way part of the police department. When it comes to reporting
crime, there's no law requiring you to first report the crime to police.
When it comes to prosecution, the statement of probable cause is, and
will always continue to be, the key document for any prosecution. A
probable cause statement can be prepared and submitted by either a
police officer or the victim of the crime in question.
While the process for reporting crime in every state encourages the
public to first call police, that step can be bypassed. Some states just
make it easier than others. In Maryland for example, the District
Court of Maryland makes court commissioners available on a 24/7 basis
usually located within police facilities where they're available to police
officers and the public alike.
Just remember that your responsibility to UCR is part of a process... but
a separate part of the process.
police officer you'll be executing a lot of arrest warrants. Once you
serve an arrest warrant, it will be your responsibility to write a police
report to document the service of the warrant. If the original offense
occurred in your jurisdiction, you'll document the service in a follow-up
report to the original report. In this scenario, you receive an arrest
warrant for an armed robbery; whereupon, you locate and arrest the
suspect named in the warrant. However, when you try to locate the
original robbery report, you discover that no police report of the robbery
was ever made. Unfortunately, most police officers will simply take the
path of least resistence by writing a miscellaneous report of service and
leave it at that.
Since you're not one of most, you decide to locate the victim of the
robbery to determine why the crime was never reported. You're pleased
to learn that the unreported crime was not due to a police officer
downgrading a crime. In fact, the victim never even contacted or
involved police in any way. The victim in this scenario knew the
suspect's name, age, and residence. Immediately following the offense,
the victim responded directly to the appropriate court official where he
wrote a statement of probable cause and submitted it to the court
commissioner, magistrate, etc. for review. The court official reviewed
the probable cause, determined the appropriate criminal charge(s), and
issued an arrest warrant for the suspect/defendant. The arrest warrant
subsequently came into your possession for service.
As far as the robbery incident in this scenario is concerned, the
prosecution phase is a done deal. The prosecutor will plea bargain or
prosecute this case solely on the contents of the victim's probable cause
statement. So... why should you go to the trouble of investigating and
reporting a crime that's already been solved and in the criminal justice
pipeline awaiting adjudication? The answers are really pretty simple.
First, it's your job to investigate and document crimes committed in
your area of responsibility. Second, while the crime is in the pipeline, it
never traveled through your portion of the pipeline where the crime is
counted by UCR. Third, and most importantly, your investigation will
give police knowledge of the crime, and your investigation could produce
even more evidence in support of the victim's allegations. Beyond that,
the suspect in the robbery could well be responsible for other previously
reported robberies, and your investigation could solve those crimes
resulting in additional charges against the suspect.
You might be asking, "How could the victim skip reporting the robbery
and go directly to the court?" Again, police and courts are separate
entities. If you ever attend a court proceeding held in a courtroom
which is housed within, or adjacent to, a police facility, the judge will
probably open the session with a statement explaining that the court is
in no way part of the police department. When it comes to reporting
crime, there's no law requiring you to first report the crime to police.
When it comes to prosecution, the statement of probable cause is, and
will always continue to be, the key document for any prosecution. A
probable cause statement can be prepared and submitted by either a
police officer or the victim of the crime in question.
While the process for reporting crime in every state encourages the
public to first call police, that step can be bypassed. Some states just
make it easier than others. In Maryland for example, the District
Court of Maryland makes court commissioners available on a 24/7 basis
usually located within police facilities where they're available to police
officers and the public alike.
Just remember that your responsibility to UCR is part of a process... but
a separate part of the process.
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