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Home Crime in the U.S. 2015 Crime in the U.S. 2015 Tables Table 10 Table 10 Data Declaration

Table 10 Data Declaration

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Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, by State by Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties, 2015

The FBI collects these data through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

Important note about rape data

In 2013, the UCR Program initiated the collection of rape data under a revised definition and removed the term “forcible” from the offense name. The UCR Program now defines rape as follows:

Rape (revised definition): Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. (This includes the offenses of rape, sodomy, and sexual assault with an object as converted from data submitted via the National Incident-Based Reporting System).

Rape (legacy definition): The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.

General comments

  • The Metropolitan Counties classification encompasses jurisdictions covered by noncity law enforcement agencies located within currently designated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The Nonmetropolitan Counties classification encompasses jurisdictions covered by noncity agencies located outside currently designated MSAs.
  • This table provides the volume of violent crime (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) as reported by law enforcement agencies (such as individual sheriffs’ offices and/or county police departments) in metropolitan counties and nonmetropolitan counties (listed alphabetically by state) that contributed data to the UCR Program. (Note: Arson is not included in the property crime total in this table; however, if complete arson data were provided, they will appear in the arson column.) 
  • These data do not represent county totals as they exclude crime counts for city agencies and other types of agencies that have jurisdiction within each county.

Caution against ranking

Readers should take into consideration relevant factors in addition to an area’s crime statistics when making any valid comparisons of crime among different locales. UCR Statistics: Their Proper Use provides more details.

Methodology

  • The data used in creating this table were from all county law enforcement agencies submitting 12 months of complete offense data for 2015.
  • The FBI does not publish arson data unless it receives data from either the agency or the state for all 12 months of the calendar year.
  • When the FBI determines that an agency’s data collection methodology does not comply with national UCR guidelines, the figure(s) for that agency’s offense(s) will not be included in the table, and the discrepancy will be explained in a footnote.