Unreported Criminal Involvement of Narcotic Addicts

Although federal criminal statistics historically date to 1880, enumerations of criminals referred to as “statistics of crime” appeared in the census volumes for the years 1850, 1860 and 1870. With few exceptions, the figures reported from 1850 through the turn of the century were prison statistics, relating to individuals found in prison on a certain day of the year or to those committed during the year preceding the census inquiries. The statistics Were first collected by United States marshals, and later by the regular Bureau of Census enumerates. For a history and analysis of the early reporting systems on both the federal and state levels, see: Louis Newton Robinson, History and Organization of Criminal Statistics in the United States (Montclair, New Jersey: Paterson Smith, 1969; New York: Hart, Schaffner & Marx, 1911).

See: Illinois Association for Criminal Justice, The Illinois Crime Survey (Chicago: Illinois Association for Criminal Justice, 1929), pp. 579–586; Missouri Association for Criminal Justice, The Missouri Crime Survey (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1926), pp. 275–296; United States National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, Report on Criminal Statistics (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931); The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: Crime and Its Impact-An Assessment (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1967), pp. 123–137, 178–206.

For an analysis of the defects of contemporary crime reporting systems, sec: Beattie R.H. , “Criminal Statistics in the United States-1960,” Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 51 (1960), pp. 49–65; Robinson S.M. , “A Critical View of the Uniform Crime Reports,” Michigan Low Review, 64 (1966), pp, 1031–1054; Shulman H.M. , “The Measurement of Crime in the United States,” Journal of Criminal Low, Criminology and Police Science, 57 (1966), pp. 483–492; Marvin E. Wolfgang , “Uniform Crime Reports: A Critical Appraisal,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 111 (1963), pp. 708–738.

James F. Short Jr. Nye F. I. , “Extent of Unrecorded Juvenile Delinquency: Tentative Conclusions,” Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 49 (1958), pp. 296–312; Murphy F.J. Shirley M.M. Wilmer H.L. , “The Incidence of Hidden Delinquency,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 16 (1946), pp. 686–696.

The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, op. cit., pp. 80–84; Biderman A.D. , “Surveys of Population Samples For Estimating Crime Incidence,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 374 (1967), pp. 16–33; Ennis P.H. “Crime, Victims, and the Police,” Transaction, 4 (1967), pp. 36–44.

See: John C. Ball Carl D. Chambers Marion J. Ball , “The Association of Marihuana Smoking with Opiate Addiction in the United States,” Journal of Criminal Low, Criminology and Police Science, 59 (1968), pp. 49–65.

Plair W. Jackson L. , Narcotic Use and Crime: A Report on Interviews With 50 Addicts Under Treatment–Research Report No.33 (Washington, D.C.: District of Columbia, Department of Corrections, 1970), mimeographed.