CRIME ANALYSIS - DEFINITIONS

 

CRIME ANALYSIS HOME	DEFINITIONS	CURRENT BURGLARY REPORT
PART I CRIME COMPARISON	BEAT MAP	ARCHIVED BURGLARY REPORTS

Definitions

Aggravated Assault - An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purposes of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Attempts are included since it is not necessary that an injury result when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed.

Arson - The willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc. Only those first determined through investigation to have been willfully or maliciously set are classified as arsons. Fires of suspicious or unknown origins are excluded.

Beat - Small geographic areas within the city that allow for micro level reporting and analysis. Peoria has 18 beats.

Burglary - The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. The use of force to gain entry is not required to classify an offense as burglary. Burglary is categorized into three sub-classifications: forcible entry, unlawful entry where no force is used, and attempted forcible entry.

Call for Service - A call for service refers to any request for police service. Calls for service may be generated by private citizens (911 or non-emergency telephone calls) or by police officers.

Crime Mapping - Using maps to display the locations where crimes or concentrations of crimes have occurred that can be used to help direct patrols to places where they are most needed. Maps can also be used to observe trends in criminal activity, and to solve criminal cases. For example, detectives may use maps to better understand the hunting patterns of serial criminals and to hypothesize where these offenders might live.

GIS (Geographic Information System) - A collection of software, hardware and procedures to collect, store, retrieve, manipulate, analyze and display spatial data.

Homicide - Homicide and non-negligent manslaughter, as defined in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, is the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. Not included in the count for this offense classification are deaths caused by negligence, suicide, or accident; justifiable homicides; and attempts to murder or assaults to murder, which are scored as aggravated assaults.

Hotspot - A specific location where an unusual amount of criminal activity occurs.

Larceny-Theft - The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another. It includes crimes such as shoplifting, pocket-picking, purse-snatching, theft from motor vehicles, thefts of motor vehicle parts and accessories, bicycles thefts, etc., in which no use of force, violence, or fraud occurs. This category does not include embezzlement, "con" games, forgery, and worthless checks. Motor vehicle theft is also excluded from this category inasmuch as it is a separate Crime Index Offense.

Part I Crime - Also referred to as "The Crime Index", composed of selected offenses used to gauge fluctuations in the overall volume and rate of crime reported to law enforcement. The offenses included are the violent crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault and the property crimes of burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft, and arson.

Pattern - Criminal activity that is related by any number of characteristics (e.g. location, modus of operandi, time, day, etc), but doesn’t have sufficient suspect information to confirm or deny the same suspect/s involvement in all of the incidents.

Rape - The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Assaults or attempts to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded.

RD – Reporting District - Large geographic areas within the city that define workload boundaries. The city has 5 beats.

Robbery - The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

Series - Criminal activity most likely committed by the same suspect(s). Spree Criminal activity that occurs as one continuous incident involving the same suspect(s) usually over a limited amount of time.

Trend - Criminal activity that is generally related by location, time, date, modus operandi, or other characteristics and is not committed by the same subject(s).