National Crime Victimization Survey
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The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, is a national survey of approximately 42,000 [1] households in the United States, on the frequency of crime victimization, as well as chacteristics and consequences of victimization. The survey focuses on gathering information on the following crimes: assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft, rape, and robbery. The survey results are used for the purposes of building a crime index. The NCVS survey is comparable to the British Crime Survey conducted in the United Kingdom.
The NCVS began in 1972 and was developed from work done by the National Opinion Research Center and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. A key finding of the survey was the realization that many crimes were not reported to the police. Critics argue that the NCVS is unreliable, as there is no way to verify much of the information gathered.
