Coroners and medical examiners reported nearly
2,200 more homicides to state and federal health authorities in 2015 than
police departments reported to the U.S. Justice Department, a long-standing
discrepancy that has been getting worse in recent years.
A new study by the nonprofit Murder Accountability Project
(MAP) found significant lapses in police participation in the annual Uniform
Crime Report (UCR), a voluntary reporting program which policymakers rely upon
as the official estimate for violent crimes in the United States.
During the period 2000 through 2015, medical
authorities reported 29,800 more homicides than were reported by police.
During the period 2000 through 2015, medical
authorities reported 29,800 more homicides than were reported by police.
The UCR has been a voluntary program for law enforcement
since its enactment by Congress in 1930. Physicians, however, are required by
law to document all deaths and causes of death to state authorities and,
ultimately, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The reasons for the reporting failures by police are not
entirely understood. In some cases, they result from unintended tabulation
errors by police agencies, according to discussions by MAP with supervisors in
those departments. But most of the reporting lapses resulted from failures
(whether intentional or not) by police agencies to participate fully in federal crime
reporting programs, the study found.
