The value or importance of the Uniform Crime Reports has been questioned throughout the years. One problem is that many victims of offenses do not contact the police to make an official report. Some people may fear that the police cannot, or will not do anything about the offense. Other crimes that rarely make it into the official statistics are embezzlement, computer crimes and corporate misdeeds. The data collected in the Uniform Crime Reports entail crimes that have "actually" been reported to the police. Since submission of such data is voluntary, how can the Uniform Crime Reports be accurate? How are we able to determine whether there is a trend among crimes? However the Uniform Crime Reports have limitations. They can, and are still used a powerful tool in decision making on crimes in America.

             National Crime Surveys are a large series of interview programs. These surveys are conducted by the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Crime Surveys are used to determine the extent and nature of crimes and the effect it has on its victims. The National Crime Victimization Survey cover all of the index offenses covered by the Uniform Crime Reports, except for homicide and arson. Unlike the Uniform Crime Reports, the National Crime Victimization Surveys collects data and obtains details from the victims point of view. In order to determine whether an individual is a "victim," a series of questions are asked. Once the individual is classified as a "victim," more detailed questions are asked in order to collect as much data as possible to determine trends among those crimes. .

             The National Crime Victimization Survey helps to prove theories about the nature of a crime. Like the Uniform Crime Reports, these surveys provide detailed information about the victims age, race, sex, and geographic location. They also provide us with details about crimes (times and places of occurrence) whether reported to the police or not.