violent crime | Definition

The UCR defines violent crime as murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, involving the use or threat of physical force against another person.

In the context of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crime refers to four specific categories of criminal offenses that involve the use or threat of force. These four categories are:

1. 1. 1. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter: the willful (non-negligent) killing of one person by another.
      2. Rape: the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
      3. 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.
      4. Aggravated assault: an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose 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.

These four categories of crime are considered to be violent because they involve the use or threat of physical force against another person. The UCR Program is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of nearly 18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention.