ABSTRACT
An operational definition of elderly is needed for any research involving the aged. Malinchak notes an increase in criminal activity among the aged in St. Petersburg, Florida, of 108% in one year alone. In his analysis of arrests of those aged 60 years or more, he uses absolute numbers drawn from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). The UCR data are published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and consist of crimes known to the police rather than crimes committed. The limitations and shortcomings of the UCR as a source of research data have been thoroughly documented in the literature. Total arrests of all ages increased from 6.7 million to 10.3 million, while arrests of the elderly decreased from 413,386 to 400,107. In terms of percentage of all arrests, the arrests of the elderly decreased from 6.2% of all arrests to 3.9%.
