Crime Definitions

Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting/ National
Incident-Based

Reporting System Crime Definitions

Excerpted from the Implementing Regulations of the “Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act” (originally the Campus Security Act) originally published in the Federal Register on April 29, 1994 (Vol. 59, No. 82) and November 1, 1999 (Vol. 64, No. 210).

The following definitions are to be used for reporting the crimes listed in 34 CFR sec. 668.46 (previously 668.47) in accordance with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The Definitions for murder, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor Vehicle theft, weapon law violations, drug abuse violations and liquor Law violations are excerpted from the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook. The definitions of forcible and non-forcible sex offenses Are excerpted from the National Incident-Based Reporting System Edition of the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook.

Crime Definitions From the Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook

Arson – Any 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.

Criminal Homicide-Manslaughter by Negligence – The killing of another person through gross negligence.

Criminal Homicide-Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter – The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.

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.

Aggravated Assault – An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. (It is not necessary the injuries result from an aggravated assault 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.)

Burglary – The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. For reporting purposes this definition includes: unlawful entry with intent to commit a larceny or felony; breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny; housebreaking; safecracking; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.

Motor Vehicle Theft – The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle; (Classify as motor vehicle theft all cases where automobiles are taken b persons not having lawful access even though the vehicles are later abandoned including joyriding).

Weapon Law Violations – Regulatory in nature, such as: manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.

Drug Abuse Violations – Violations of State and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include: opium or cocaine and their derivatives (morphine, heroin, codeine); marijuana; synthetic narcotics (demerol, methadones); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (barbiturates, benzedrine).

Liquor Law Violations – The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging, operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition).

Sex Offenses Definitions From the National Incident-Based Reporting System Edition of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program

Sex Offenses-Forcible – Any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent.

A. Forcible Rape – The carnal knowledge of a person, forcibly and/or
against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where
the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or
permanent mental or physical incapacity (or because of his/her youth).

B. Forcible Sodomy – Oral or anal sexual intercourse with another person,
forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of
his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

C. Sexual Assault With An Object – The use of an object or instrument to
unlawfully penetrate, however slightly, the genital or anal opening of the body of another person, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.

D. Forcible Fondling – The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person’s will; or, not forcibly or against the person’s will where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her youth or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.

Sex Offenses-Non-forcible – Unlawful, non-forcible sexual intercourse

A. Incest – Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law

B. Statutory Rape – Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent

Hate Crimes

Bias – A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/nationality origin.

Bias Crime – A criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin; also known as Hate Crime.

Bisexual – Of or relating to persons who experience sexual attraction toward and responsiveness to both males and females; a bisexual person

Disability Bias – A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments/challenges, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness.

Disabled – Of or relating to persons who have physical or mental impairments/challenges, whether temporary or permanent, due to conditions that are congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness.

Ethnicity/National Origin Bias – A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons of the same race or national origin who share common or similar traits, languages, customs, and traditions, e.g., Arabs, Hispanics.

Gay – Of relating to males who experience a sexual attraction toward and responsiveness to other males; a homosexual male.

Hate Crime- Bias Crime

Hate Group – An organization who primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization, e.g., the Ku Klux Klan, American Nazi party.

Heterosexual – Of or relating to persons who experience a sexual attraction toward and responsiveness to members of the opposite sex; a heterosexual person.

Lesbian – Of or relating to females who experience a sexual attraction toward and responsiveness to other females; a homosexual female.

Racial Bias – A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons who posses common physical characteristics, e.g.; color of skin, eyes, and/or hair; facial features; etc., genetically transmitted by descent and heredity which distinguish them as a distinct division of humankind, e.g., Asians, Blacks, Whites.

Religious Bias – A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their sexual attraction toward, and responsiveness to, members of their own sex or members of the opposite sex, e.g., lesbians, heterosexuals.

Source: Federal Register, April 29, 1994, Vol. 59, No. 82; Federal Register, November 1, 1999, Vol. 64, No. 210.

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