| Crime In The United States |
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Crime in the United States is characterized by relatively high levels of Gun Violence and Homicide , compared to other Developed Countries although this is explained by the fact that criminals in America are more likely to use firearms.12 Crime statistics are published annually by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation in the Uniform Crime Reports which represents Crime s reported to the Police . The Bureau Of Justice Statistics conducts the annual National Crime Victimization Survey which captures crimes not reported to the police. The country's overall crime rate is reflected through Index crimes, which include Homicide , forcible Rape , Robbery , Assault , classified as Violent Crime s. Property crimes include Burglary , Larceny / Theft , Motor Vehicle Theft , and Arson . Statistics for index offenses are generally available for the country as a whole, all fifty State s and all communities within the United States with 10,000 or more residents. The crime rate is measured by the number of crimes being reported per 100,000 people. While the crime rate had risen sharply in the late 1960s and early 1970s, bringing it to a constant all-time high during much of the 1970s and 1980s, it has drastically declined ever since 1991. In 2004 America's crime rate is roughly the same as in 1970, with the Homicide rate being at its lowest level since 1965. Overall the national crime rate was 3982 crimes per 100,000 residents, down 17.6% from 4852 crimes per 100,000 residents thirty years earlier in 1974.34 The severity of crime in international comparison depends on the nature of the crimes considered in such comparison. For example, while the Homicide and violent crime rates of the United States were much higher than those of Canada , property crime rates in the US were considerably lower. The overall crime rate in the United States is similar to that of other highly developed countries such as Canada .56 Additionally there tend to be great regional differences within the US with New England having a violent crime and homicide rate comparable to that of most other developed nations, while southern states were among the most violent. The likelihood of committing and falling victim to crime also depends on several demographic characteristics, as well as location of the population. Overall minorities, the young, and those in financially less favorable positions were more likely to be victimized by, as well as commit crimes.7 Crime in the US is also concentrated to certain areas. It is quite common for crime in American cities to be highly concentrated in a few, often economically disadvantaged areas. For example, the responding communities in San Mateo County, California had a population of approximately 624,000 and 17 homicides in 2001. 6 of these 17 homicides took place in relatively poor, largely African and Hispanic American East Palo Alto , which had a population of roughly 30,000. So, while East Palo Alto only accounted for 4.8% of the population, 35.3% of all homicides took place there.8 Thus it becomes very clear that the distribution of crime among different demographical groups and locales varies significantly. CRIME OVER TIME Crime has been a long-standing concern in the United States , with relatively high rates at beginning of the 20th century when compared to parts of Europe. In 1916, 198 homicides were recorded in Chicago , for a city of slightly over 2 million. This level of crime was not exceptional when compared to other American cities such as New York City , but was much high relative to European cities, such as London which at the time was three-times the size, but recorded 45 homicides in the same year.13 Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the course of the past half-century, rising significantly in the late 1960s and 1970s, while decreasing considerably in the 1990s. Over the past twenty years, the crime rate rose throughout the 1980s, reached its peak in 1991 and has decreased. Recent statistics indicate crime is again increasing14. The year 2005 was overall the safest year in the past thirty years. The recent overall decrease has reflected upon all significant types of crime, with all violent and property crimes having decreased and reached an all-time low. The Homicide rate in particular has decreased over 42% between its record high point in 1991 and 2005. Recently, however, the Homicide rate has stagnated.15 While the homicide rate decreased continuously between 1991 and 2000 from 9.8 homicides per 100,000 persons to 5.5 per 100,000, it has remained level through 2005. In the years between 2000 and 2005 the homicide rate has remained at its all time low between 5.5 and 5.7 homicides per 100,000 individuals. Despite the recent stagnation of the homicide rate, however, property and violent crimes overall have continued to decrease, though at a considerably slower pace than in the 1990s.16 Overall the crime rate in the US was the same in 2004 as in 1969, with the homicide rate being roughly the same as in 1966. Violent crime overall, however, is still at the same level as in 1974, despite having decreased steadily since 1991.17 SOURCES: US Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004),20 Federal Bureau of Investigation, (2005)21 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIME OFFENDERS A subsequent United States Department Of Justice report which surveyed homicide statistics between 1974 and 2004 stated that of the crimes surveyed, 52.1% of the offenders were Black, 45.9% were White, and 2% were Other Races. Of the victims in those same crimes, 51% were White, 46.9% were Black, and 2.1% were Other Races. The report further noted that, "most Murders are intraracial", with 86% of White murders committed by Whites, and 94% of Black murders committed by Blacks. It should be noted that the document does not provide any details concerning what races or ethnicities are included in the designations "White", "Black", or "Other Races". A February 1997 report on rape and sexual-based crime published by the United States Department of Justice stated that of the crimes surveyed, 56% of arrestees were White, 42% were Black, and 2% were of other races; though it should be noted that "Hispanic" was not recognized as a racial category, with Hispanics predominantly being grouped together with Non-Hispanic Whites. The report additionally noted that " of rape were about evenly divided between whites and blacks; in about 88% of forcible rapes, the victim and offender were of the same race." In 1998, nearly one out of three Black men between the ages of 20-29 were in Prison or Jail , on probation or parole on any given day.[http://www.prisons.org/racism.htm Prison Racism Race and the Criminal Justice System Approximately 70% of prisoners in the United States are non-Whites. State University of New York - Binghamton Compared with other countries, the United States has among the highest incarceration rates in the world. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on Probation or on Parole . Of the total 2.2 million were incarcerated. The People's Republic Of China ranks second with 1.5 million. The United States has 5% of the World's Population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. Report: 7 million Americans in justice system In terms of Federal Prison , 57 % of those incarcerated were sentenced for Drug Offenses . Currently, considering local jails as well, almost a million of those incarcerated are in prison for non-violent crime. 22 In 2002, roughly 93.2 % of prisoners were Male . About 10.4 % of all black males in the United States between the ages of 25 and 29 were sentenced and in prison by year end, compared to 2.4 % of Hispanic males and 1.2 % of white males. 23 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIME VICTIMS Overall the financially disadvantaged, males, those younger than 25 and non European-Americans were more likely to fall victim to crime. Income , sex and age had the most dramatic effect on the chances of a person being victimized by crime, while the effect on race dependent on the crime. In 2005 27 out of 1,000 African Americans became the victim of a violent crime, compared to 20 out of every 1,000 White Americans . This means that African Americans were overall 26% more likely to sustain a violent crime. The likelihood of being murdered was drastically higher for African Americans.25 In 2004 African Americans constituted roughly 13.4% of the general population,26 yet, nearly half, 49%, of all murder victims in 2005 were African American. Sexual assault and rape rates, however, were roughly the same for all races, while Whites and African Americans had approximately the same chances of falling victim to simple assaults. In terms of sex, males were more likely to become crime victims then were females with 79% percent of all murder victims being male. Males were also twice as likely to be carjacked as were females. In terms of income all households had roughly the same chance of becoming victims of property theft. Yet, households with an Annual Income of less than $7,500 were far more likely to be assaulted, robbed and have their homes burglarized. Concerning age, those younger than twenty-five were more likely to fall victim to crime, especially violent crime. The chances of being victimized by violent crime decreased far more substantially with age than the chances of becoming the victim of property crime. For example, 1 out of every 33 crime committed against a young person was theft, while 1 out of every 5 crimes committed against an elderly person was theft. Thus one can conclude that the probability of becoming a crime victim decreases as income and age increase, in addition to being lower for European Americans and females.27 Despite the overall crime rate of the United States being seemingly in line with that of other industrialized countries, its homicide rate, which has declined substantially since 1991, is still among the highest in the industrialized world. Comparing just Homicide rates by themselves, however, may not be representative of the overall crime rate of a country. Only the homicide rate of Northern Ireland in the early 1990s compares to that of the United States today. In 2004, there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons, compared to 1.9 in Canada and 1.0 in Germany.33 This means that the homicide rate in the United States was nearly three times as high as in Canada and slightly more then five times as high as in Germany .3435 Most industrialized countries had homicide rates below the 2.5 mark. Overall the homicide rate in the United States was similar to that of some lesser developed Eastern European countries.363738 SOURCES: US Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004),51 Bundeskriminalamt, BKA (2004),52 Canada Statistics (2004),53 Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2000)54 CRIME BY LOCALE Location has a very significant impact on crime in the , a very Affluent suburban enclave of the Nation's Capital with 1,041,200 residents, had the lowest homicide rate of any jurisdiction. In 2004, Fairfax County's homicide rate was reported at 0.3 homicides per 100,000 persons, 94.5% below the national average and 1/145 of Baltimore's homicide rate. It is therefore important to remember that the risk of being victimized by crime in the United States varies greatly from locale to locale.5657 Large cities Crime among the country's largest ten cities tended to be above the national average. It is, however, important to note that these statistics exclude the given city's suburbs and only reflect the crime rates within the jurisdiction of the given city's police department. Overall San Jose, California was the safest of America's largest cities, while Houston, Texas was the most dangerous.58 The most violent of the top ten was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania whose violent crime rate was more than 3.5 times as high as that of San Jose, the least violent city.5960 SOURCES: US Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004),85 FBI Uniformed Crime Reports (2005)86 States Crime rates vary greatly across the states. Crime statistics for 2004 seem to dispel the notion that crime is lower in rural states than in urban states, as many of both America's most urbanized and populous as well as rural and scarcely populated states fell well below the national average, while some rural southern states ranked significantly above the national average. Overall, New England had by far the lowest crime rates, for both violent and property crimes. New England states also had the lowest homicide rates in the country. Densely populated states such as New York and New Jersey also had crime rates well below the national average. Southern States had the highest overall crime rates. Crime can also be isolated to one particular part of a state. Lafayette, Louisiana , for instance had only 6 murders per 100,000 people in 2004, while New Orleans, Louisiana , had 32.5 murders per 100,000 people. 87 With few exceptions, there also seems to be a strong correlation between Median Household Income and crime rates. In addition to having the country's lowest crime rates, New England states also had the country's highest median household income. Almost all of the Nation's Wealthiest Twenty States , which included northern mid-western and western states such as Wisconsin and California , had crime rates below the national average. The nation's more dangerous states such as Arizona , Arkansas and Texas in turn ranked among those with a household income below the national median. For example, New Hampshire was the Nation's Wealthiest State and safest state. New Hampshire's total crime rate was 57.9%; its violent crime rate was 64.1% and its homicide rate 69.1% below the national average. Connecticut , the nation's fourth wealthiest state, had a crime rate 27% and a homicide rate 52.7% below the national average. This contrasts starkly to some of the Nation's Poorer states such as Georgia , Florida or Louisiana . Louisiana had a crime rate 27% and a homicide rate 130.9% above the national average and ranked as the nation's fourth poorest state with a median household income 20% below the national median. While these trends hold generally true, it should be noted, that several states who fell below the national median for household income such as New York , Maine and Kentucky also had crime rates below the national average, while some wealthy states such as Maryland and Hawaii had crime rates above the national average.8889 The highest total crime rate of any state, except for the District Of Columbia , was found in Arizona , followed by South Carolina . The crime rate in Arizona was 46.82% above the national average and three and half (3.5) times as high as that of New Hampshire , America's safest state. The homicide rate was highest in the District of Columbia and Louisiana , as both states are home to some of the most violent areas in the entire country, namely eastern Washington, D.C. and the city of New Orleans . Overall there were six states with fewer than two homicides per 100,000 residents. Yet there were also eight states with more than seven homicides per 100,000 residents. These findings further illustrate the drastic degree to which crimes rates vary from state to state.90 SOURCE: US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004 SEE ALSO US related topics REFERENCES |
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