NCJ Number
177355
Date Published
1996
Length
163 pages
Annotation
The Chicago Homicide Dataset (CHD), one of the largest and most comprehensive datasets on violence ever collected in the United States, contains detailed information on every homicide in Chicago police records between 1965 and 1994, and this codebook contains relevant information for both coders and users of the dataset.
Abstract
The CHD includes all homicides except those deemed justifiable. Homicides classified as being justifiable are separated from other homicides because they are not considered crimes. Based on the original police investigation report, personnel in the Crime Analysis Unit of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) fill out a murder analysis report for each homicide using a coding scheme similar to that of the CHD. In addition, since 1982, the CPD has maintained data on murder cases in an automated system called RAMIS. CPD and CHD data sometimes differ because cases may become known to the police months or even years after the initial occurrence, because of a lengthy police investigation, or because the victim died sometime after the attack. Although the CHD contains data compiled over many years, with some changes in definitions over time, every effort has been made to produce key variables in which definitions and interpretation are consistent over the entire time span. The 1996 version of the CHD clarifies and expands on past versions, and the codebook documents the many new variables that have been created. The major section of the codebook consists of variable names and values, value labels, and coding instructions. The codebook documents both coded and created variables, and endnotes are included to further explain coding instructions. An appendix contains a list of variables used by the CPD and those in the complete working version of the CHD, a list of publications based on the CHD, Chicago police district maps, and a Chicago community area map. 108 endnotes