Why it Matters: Crime statistics are used by different groups for different things. On a political level, it provides a measure for the success or failure of certain criminal justice policies. On an operational level, it provides important information on how best to allocate municipal resources. From a civil society perspective, it provides indicators against which to measure criminal justice performance and therefore an important tool to hold accountability the various role-players in the criminal justice system (Institute for Security Studies). (n035) (o8)

Data Source: This data is what law enforcement agencies collect throughout the state. It is sent to the State Police, who in turn submits it to the FBI. After analysis by the FBI, the data is then made available to the public for their consumption. Since this process takes a while to complete, the data is always at least a year behind. (n034)