INFORMATION AND EXPLANATIONS ABOUT THE NATIONAL AND WEST VIRGINIA UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING PROGRAMS ARE OFFERED, AND THE CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMES UNDER THESE PROGRAMS IS DETAILED. A PROFILE OF THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA IS FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF FACTORS WHICH CAN AFFECT THE LEVEL OF CRIME AND AN EXPLANATION ABOUT THE CRIME INDEX WHICH FORMS THE BASIS FOR FIGURES REGARDING THE VOLUME AND DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME IN WEST VIRGINIA. A SYNOPSIS OF CRIME IN WEST VIRGINIA IN 1978 IS PRESENTED. DATA ON OFFENSES, ARRESTS, AND ON LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL ARE BOTH SUMMARIZED AND PRESENTED IN TABULAR FORM. THE WEST VIRGINIA OFFENSE DATA WHICH FORMS THE CRIME INDEX REPORT ARE PRESENTED IN COMPUTER OUTPUT TABLES AND ARE ARRANGED BY COUNTY TO FACILITATE QUICK REFERENCE OF STATISTICAL CRIME INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE DIFFERENT REPORTING AREAS OF THE STATE. A TOTAL OF 26 TABLES AND CHARTS ARE INCLUDED, AS ARE A GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND A MAP OF WEST VIRGINIA.