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6 Just. Rsch. & Pol'y 1 (2004)

handle is hein.journals/jcerhadp6 and id is 1 raw text is: APPLYING A CRIME SERIOUSNESS SCALE TO MEASURE CHANGES IN THE SEVERITY OF OFFENSES BY INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED IN FLORIDA Susan E. Burton William D. Bales Matthew Finn Kathy Padgett Debra Livingston Florida State University Kristen Scully Florida Department of Law Enforcement Florida Statistical Analysis Center 0 Abstract Florida has experienced consistent and significant declines in total crime rates and violent crime rates since 1989; however, the perception among citizens, law enforce- ment, and the courts is that individuals are arrested today for committing more seri- ous and violent crimes than in the past. Florida's Statistical Analysis Center analyzed Computerized Criminal History data on over eight million felony arrest events and almost three million arrestees from 1984 to 2002 to examine trends in offender seri- ousness to assess the legitimacy of these views. In addition to calculating individual arrest histories based on counts of arrest events, a seriousness scale was developed and applied to annual cohorts to capture a more accurate representation of the rela- tive seriousness of individuals' police encounters over time. We found increases in the frequency of arrest events in individual careers but decreases in the seriousness and level of violence of arrestees' crimes, especially over the past decade. Additionally, Florida's change in punishment policy in 1994 from an indeterminate to a determi- nate, get tough approach was examined in relation to changes in arrestee serious- ness. Recommendations are made for other states to replicate the methodologies and analysis reported here, and for further research to be conducted on the impact of changing punishment policies on the seriousness of individuals arrested. This research was developed under grant number 93-BJ-CX-KO04 from the U.S. De- partment of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. The points of view expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Bureau of Justice Statistics or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2004 © 2004 Justice Research and Statistics Association

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