DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 1997              TAG: 9710070436

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   23 lines

CRIME Q & A

I've seen some data about crime in local cities. Crime in Virginia Beach is remarkably low. Do all cities report crime the same way?

- Anonymous

Yes, all cities report crimes according to FBI Uniform Crime Reports guidelines. Participation in the FBI reporting system is voluntary, but if a police agency participates, it must follow strict guidelines.

All Hampton Roads police departments submit crime data to the Virginia State Police, which then submits the data to the FBI.

Police provide the FBI with information about murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, auto thefts, burglaries, larcenies and arson that happen in their jurisdiction. They also report the age, sex and race of people arrested for those crimes.

The FBI definitions for those crimes can be found in Crime in the United States, which is published yearly by the Department of Justice.

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