Crime Statistics

About the UCR Crime Index

The UCR Crime Index is a collection of selected offenses used by the FBI to measure changes in crime reported to police. These offenses include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson, and auto theft. According to the FBI, Arson statistics are included in trend, clearance, and arrest tables throughout Crime in the United States, but they are not included in any estimated volume data. According to the UCR reporting systems, the “Hierarchy Rule” governs multiple offense reporting. If more than one crime was committed by the same person or group of persons and the time and space intervals separating the crimes were insignificant, then the crime highest in the hierarchy is the only offense reported. For more information, please visit the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) website or the FBI's office UCR website https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr


The Fitchburg Police Department voluntarily submits NIBRS data to the Massachusetts Crime Report Unit, who then in turns submits UCR summary data to the FBI. UCR Crime Index data included in this report has been retrieved from the Massachusetts Crime Reporting Unit in March 2019. All statistics are calculated using the best data available at the time. Please note, final numbers may be subject to change. Official FBI statistics typically published in the fall.