Alcohol And Crime: Data From 2002 To 2008
"This webpage includes analyses from four data sources: the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISFCF), and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ). Each data source examines the involvement of alcohol and violent crime from different perspectives and different sets of criminal behaviors. In NIBRS law enforcement officers are asked to record whether alcohol use by victims, offenders, or both was involved in the incident. In NCVS victims are asked to report whether they believe the offenders had consumed alcohol prior to or during the crime. Finally, in the inmate surveys prison and jail inmates are asked if they were using alcohol at the time of the crime for which they were incarcerated.

The NCVS captures the broadest range of crime and includes nonfatal crime reported and not reported to law enforcement. Because the NCVS measures the number of victimizations, it does not restrict identifying an incident as alcohol-involved based on the quantity of alcohol consumed by the offender or the degree of impairment resulting from the alcohol consumption. NIBRS captures fatal and nonfatal crimes reported to law enforcement, which are likely more serious than those captured by NCVS. Victimizations captured by NCVS and offenses known to police reflected in NIBRS may underestimate domestic violence; however, it is not clear which data source provides better information on the characteristics of these crimes..."