NCJ Number
143150
Date Published
1970
Length
254 pages
Annotation
Hypotheses related to crime reporting to the police by crime victims were tested using data gathered in 1968 from 1,411 Seattle households, of which approximately 800 reported some victimization during the preceding 12 months.
Abstract
Victims answered detailed questions about the victimization they had experienced that they considered the most serious. The study used reporting or nonreporting to the police as the dependent variable in most of the analyses. Results revealed that less than half of the most serious victimizations were reported to the police. Contrary to expectations, a higher seriousness of a crime did not increase the probability of reporting to the police. In fact, offenses such as burglary that were viewed as less serious were more likely to be reported than more serious offenses like assault. The general confidence in the police was unrelated to the probability of reporting offenses, as were certain other variables that had been expected to have an effect. As expected, the perceived threat of future property victimization was positively associated with reporting, even when several other variables were controlled. Tables, chapter notes, appended survey instrument and additional results, and 55 references