Crime in the United States
Encyclopedia
Crime statistics for the United States are published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Uniform Crime Reports which represents crimes reported to the police. The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducts the annual National Crime Victimization Survey
which captures crimes not reported to the police.
In 2009 America's crime rate was roughly the same as in 1968, with the homicide
rate being at its lowest level since 1964. Overall, the national crime rate was 3466 crimes per 100,000 residents, down from 3680 crimes per 100,000 residents forty years earlier in 1969 (-9.4%).
The likelihood of committing and falling victim to crime also depends on several demographic characteristics, as well as location of the population. Overall, men, minorities, the young, and those in financially less favorable positions are more likely to be crime victims, as well as commit crimes. Crime in the US is also concentrated in certain areas.
It is quite common for crime in American cities to be highly concentrated in a few, often economically disadvantaged areas. For example, San Mateo County, California
had a population of approximately 707,000 and 17 homicides in 2001. Six of these 17 homicides took place in poor, largely Black and Hispanic East Palo Alto, which had a population of roughly 30,000. So, while East Palo Alto accounted for a mere 4.2% of the population, about one-third of the homicides took place there. According to the FBI, in 2008 14,180 people were murdered in America.
index comprises homicide
, forcible rape
, robbery
and assault
. The property crime
index consists of burglary
, larceny
/theft
, motor vehicle theft
, and arson
. Statistics for index offenses are generally available for the country as a whole, all fifty states
and all participating communities within the United States.
For example, Dallas is mentioned as having one of the highest crime rates in the nation. This indicator is important in demonstrating this statistic and understanding the intricacies of crime in Dallas. As noted above, “the crime rate” as reported in the news media typically refers to a combination of violent crime and property crime. In 2002, Dallas reportedly had 17,018 crimes, and 15,429 in 2005. However, in Dallas, as in many other cities, property crime accounts for the majority of offences, while “the crime rate" is frequently interpreted as the rate of violent crime.
The crime rate is measured by the number of offenses being reported per 100,000 people.
, with high rates at the beginning of the 20th century compared to parts of Western Europe. In 1916, 198 homicides were recorded in Chicago
, a city of slightly over 2 million at the time. This level of crime was not exceptional when compared to other American cities such as New York City
, but was much higher relative to European cities, such as London
, which then had three times the population but recorded only 45 homicides in the same year.
reported in the year 2007 alone. Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the course of the last half-century, rising significantly in the late 1960s and 1970s, peaking in the early 1990s and then decreasing steadily from then on.
Over the past thirty years, the crime rate rose throughout the 1980s, reached its peak in 1993 and then began to decrease throughout the 1990s and 2000s. One hypothesis
suggests there is a causal link between legalized abortion
and this drop. Another suggests reduced lead exposure as the cause; Scholar Mark A.R. Kleiman writes: "Given the decrease in lead exposure among children since the 1980s and the estimated effects of lead on crime, reduced lead exposure could easily explain a very large proportion—certainly more than half—of the crime decrease of the 1994-2004 period. A careful statistical study relating local changes in lead exposure to local crime rates estimates the fraction of the crime decline due to lead reduction as greater than 90 percent. (When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment, Princeton University Press 2009 page 133 citing Richard Nevin, "How Lead Exposure Relates to Temoral Changes in IQ, Violent Crime and Unwed Pregnancy," Environmental Research 83, 1 (2000): 1-22.)
The year 2010 was overall the safest year in almost forty 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 51% between its record high point in 1991 and 2010.
From 2000-2008, the homicide rate stagnated. 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 remained at 5.4-5.7 until 2009, when it dipped down to 5.0, and continued to drop in 2010 to 4.8.
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. Overall, the crime rate in the U.S. was the same in 2009 as in 1968, with the homicide rate being roughly the same as in 1964. Violent crime overall, however, is still at the same level as in 1973, despite having decreased steadily since 1991.
Crimes per 100,000 population
SOURCES: US Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (2010)
According to the survey "Highlights from 20 Years of Surveying Crime Victims", published in 1993, of the 20% of violent crimes that are interracial, 15% involve white victims and black offenders, 3% involve white victims and other-race offenders, and 2% involve black victims and white offender.
And according to the latest annual report on murder by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most inter-racial murders involve black assailants and white victims, with blacks murdering whites at 18 times the rate that whites murder blacks.
As of 2008, a statistics report which surveyed all persons arrested for offending, stated that of the crimes surveyed for which the identity of the offender could be determined, 77.2 percent of all persons arrested were white or Hispanic, 20.3 percent of people arrested for offending were black or black and Hispanic; and the remaining 2.4 percent were of other races. After arrest, 45.1% of violent crimes and 17.4% of property crimes nationwide were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
As of 2008, statistics report that of 16,277 murders, 10,568 were committed by males, 1,176 were by female, and 4,533 were committed in which the offenders sex was unknown. Likewise, 5,334 murders were committed by white offenders, 5,943 were committed by black or black and Hispanic offenders, 273 were committed by offenders of other races, and 4,727 murders were committed by offenders whose race is not known.
According to Anthony Walsh, "Whites constituted 82.2% of the American population in 1999 (US Bureau of the Census, 2000), with arrest rates for murder (48.9%), rape (63.1%), robbery (46.0%), aggravated assault (64.4%), burglary (68.1%), larceny/theft (64.9%), motor vehicle theft (58.0%), and arson (72.4%). It should be noted that the "white" category in the UCR
includes non-black Hispanics, and the "black" category includes black Hispanics."
A 2008 FBI Uniform Crime Report on rape and sexual-based crime published by the United States Department of Justice stated that of the crimes surveyed, whites represented 65.2% of persons arrested for rape, blacks represented 32.2%, with American Indians and Asians ranking just above 1%. "Hispanics", "Hispanic-White" or "Hispanic-Black" was not specified into any specific category.
According to the latest "Hate Crimes Reported by Victims
and Police," a 2008 Bureau of Justice Statistics
Report, hate crime
offenders were predominantly white (61%), whereas the victims were predominantly black (72.9%) and targeted because of their race (51%). Among religious hate crimes, the majority of victims were of Jewish faith (65.7%) with less than one in ten offenses aimed at people of the Muslim faith (7.7%). Among crimes aimed at ethnicity and national background, the majority of hate crimes were of anti-Hispanic bias (64%).
Reporting at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
(August 3, 2008), sociologists at Bowling Green State University
found that men who attend college are more likely to commit property crime
s during their college years than their non-college-attending peers. The research draws from three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
and examines education, crime levels, substance abuse and socializing among adolescents and young adults. Also, according to Naci Mocan of the University of Colorado and Erdal Tekin of Georgia State University, "We find that unattractive individuals commit more crime in comparison to average-looking ones, and very attractive individuals commit less crime in comparison to those who are average-looking."
or on parole
, of which 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.
In terms of federal prison
, 57% of those incarcerated were sentenced for drug offenses
. However, the federal prison population is a very small percentage of the massive state prison population, which also holds numerous people convicted of drug offenses. Currently, considering local jails as well, almost a million of those incarcerated are in prison for non-violent crime. In 2002, 93.2% of prisoners were male
. 10.4% of the black males in the United States between the ages of 25 and 29 were sentenced and in prison by year end, as were 2.4% of Hispanic males and 1.2% of white males.
Many sociologists and criminal justice academics argue that this disparity in prison population is reflective of discriminatory sentencing. In a study conducted by the Rand Corporation, it has been estimated that Blacks and Latinos received longer sentences and spent more time in jail than their white counterparts who were convicted of similar crimes and with similar criminal records. One particular example revealed the state of California statistically imposed sentences that averaged 6.5 months longer for Hispanics, and 1.5 months longer for Blacks when compared to white inmates.
More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that costs state governments nearly $50 billion a year and the federal government $5 billion more. With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States leads the world in both the number and percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving China
a remote second, according to a study by the Pew Center on the States. For example, Florida, which has almost doubled its prison population over the past 15 years, has experienced a smaller drop in crime than New York
, which, after a brief increase, has reduced its number of inmates to below the 1993 level.
Patterns are found within the victimology
of crime in the United States. Overall, the financially disadvantaged, females, those younger than 25 and non Whites
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 characteristic of race depended upon the crime being committed.
In 2005, 2.7% of African American
s became the victim of a violent crime, compared to 2.0% of Whites
. African Americans were overall 35% more likely to sustain a violent crime. The likelihood of being murdered was drastically higher for African Americans. In 2004 African Americans constituted roughly 13.4% of the general population, yet, nearly half, 49%, of all murder victims in 2005 were African American.
Sexual assault and rape rates were roughly the same for all races. Whites and African Americans also had approximately the same chances of falling victim to simple assaults.
In terms of gender, males were more likely to become crime victims than 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, households with a 2008 annual income
of less than $15,000 were significantly more likely to have their homes burgled.
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, 3.03% of crimes committed against a young person were theft, while 20% of crimes committed against an elderly person were theft. Thus, one can conclude that the probability of becoming a violent crime victim decreases as income and age increase, in addition to being lower for European Americans and females.
In recent years, largely due to the efforts of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and academic researchers the problem of violence against the homeless has gained national attention. The NCH called deliberate attacks against the homeless hate crimes in their report Hate, Violence, and Death on Mainstreet USA (they retain the definition of the American Congress).
The Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University
, San Bernardino in conjunction with the NCH found that 155 homeless people were killed by non-homeless people in "hate killings", while 76 people were killed in all the other traditional hate crime homicide
categories such as race and religion, combined. The CSHE contends that negative and degrading portrayals of the homeless contribute to a climate where violence takes place.
Some countries such as Canada, however, have similar definitions of what constitutes a violent crime, and nearly all countries had the same definition of the characteristics that constitutes a homicide. Overall the total crime rate of the United States is similar to that of other highly developed countries. Some types of reported property crime
in the U.S. survey as lower than in Germany or Canada, yet the homicide
rate in the United States is substantially higher.
s from 1960 to 1996). In 2004, there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons, roughly three times as high as Canada (1.9) and six times as high as Germany (0.9). A closer look at The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data indicates that per-capita homicide rates over the last 30 years on average of major cities, New Orleans' average per capita homicide rate of 52 murders per 100,000 people overall (1980–2009) ranks highest among major U.S. cities Most industrialized countries had homicide rates below the 2.5 mark.
In the United States, the number of homicides where the victim and offender relationship was undetermined has been increasing since 1999 but has not reached the levels experienced in the early 1990s. In 14% of all murders, the victim and the offender were strangers. Spouses and family members made up about 15% of all victims, about one-third of the victims were acquaintances of the assailant, and the victim and offender relationship was undetermined in over one-third of homicides.
Gun involvement in homicides were gang
related homicides which increased after 1980, homicides that occurred during the commission of a felony which increased from 55% in 1985 to 77% in 2005, homicides resulting from arguments which declined to the lowest levels recorded recently, and homicides resulting from other circumstances which remained relatively constant. Because gang killing has become a normal part of inner cities, many including police, hold preconceptions about the causes of death in inner cities. When a death is labeled gang related it lowers the chances that it will be investigated and increases the chances that the perpetrator will remain at large. In addition, victims of gang killings often determine the priority a case will be given by police. Jenkins (1988) argues that many serial murder cases remain unknown to police and that cases involving Black offenders and victims are especially likely to escape official attention.
The reported US violent crime rate includes only Aggravated Assault, whereas the Canadian violent crime rate includes all categories of assault, including the much-more-numerous Assault level 1 (i.e., assault not using a weapon and not resulting in serious bodily harm). A government study concluded that direct comparison of the 2 countries' violent crime totals or rates was "inappropriate".
rate in 1998 than Scotland
, England
, Canada
, the Netherlands, and Australia
. The other two countries included in the study, Sweden
and Switzerland
, had only slightly lower burglary rates. (Note: The rate of burglary in Police records remained higher in the U.S. than most other countries during the study period (see graph)). For the first nine years of the study period the same surveys of the public showed only Australia with rates higher than the U.S. The authors noted various problems in doing the comparisons including infrequent data points (The U.S. performed 5 surveys from 1995 to 1999 when its rate dipped below Canada's while Canada ran a single telephone survey during that period for comparison).
Location has a very significant impact on crime in the United States
. While some responding jurisdictions are nearly free of serious crime, others are plagued by some of the highest serious crime rates in the industrialized world. The homicide rate exemplifies the stark differences between communities.
For example, in 2004 the New Orleans
police departments reported more homicides per 100,000 residents than any other jurisdiction. The rate of homicide per 100,000 was 56.0, which was ten times the national average. By contrast, in 2005 Forbes
magazine listed Long Island
, one of the suburban areas of New York City
, which is also one of the wealthiest and most expensive communities in the United States, as having 2.042 crimes per 100,000 residents; the lowest crime rate and less than half the US average http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/05/04/cz_05bestplaces_bestcrimeslide.html.
Fairfax County, Virginia
, 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 Philadelphia'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.
Rates are based on cases per 100,000 for all of calendar 2007.
generated with :de:Wikipedia:Helferlein/VBA-Macro for EXCEL tableconversion V1.7<\hiddentext>>
SOURCES: FBI Uniform Crime Reports (2007)
Crime rates vary greatly across the states. Overall, New England
had the lowest crime rates, for both violent and property crimes. New England states also had the lowest homicide rates in the country.
A closer look at per capita homicide rates for each state from FBI Uniform Crime Reports Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that Louisiana's per capita homicide rate has ranked 1st every single year from 1989 to 2010, which is 22 consecutive years.
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 6 murders per 100,000 people in 2004, while New Orleans, Louisiana
, had 56 murders per 100,000 people according to Bureau of Justice
Statistics for the same year.
Almost all of the nation's wealthiest twenty states, which included northern mid-western and western states such as Minnesota
and California
, had crime rates below the national average. In addition to having the country's lowest crime rates, New England
states also had the country's highest median household income, while the Southern states have the lowest.
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 poorer states generally have higher crime rates, several states who fell below the national median for household income such as Maine
and Kentucky
also had crime rates below the national average, while some wealthier states such as Maryland
and Hawaii
had crime rates above the national average.
Related:
National Crime Victimization Survey
The National Crime Victimization Survey , administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, is a national survey of approximately 49,000 to 77,400 households twice a year in the United States, on the frequency of crime victimization, as well as characteristics and consequences of victimization...
which captures crimes not reported to the police.
In 2009 America's crime rate was roughly the same as in 1968, with the homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
rate being at its lowest level since 1964. Overall, the national crime rate was 3466 crimes per 100,000 residents, down from 3680 crimes per 100,000 residents forty years earlier in 1969 (-9.4%).
The likelihood of committing and falling victim to crime also depends on several demographic characteristics, as well as location of the population. Overall, men, minorities, the young, and those in financially less favorable positions are more likely to be crime victims, as well as commit crimes. Crime in the US is also concentrated in certain areas.
It is quite common for crime in American cities to be highly concentrated in a few, often economically disadvantaged areas. For example, San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
had a population of approximately 707,000 and 17 homicides in 2001. Six of these 17 homicides took place in poor, largely Black and Hispanic East Palo Alto, which had a population of roughly 30,000. So, while East Palo Alto accounted for a mere 4.2% of the population, about one-third of the homicides took place there. According to the FBI, in 2008 14,180 people were murdered in America.
Measuring crime
The country's overall crime rate is displayed in fifty indices. The violent crimeViolent crime
A violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent...
index comprises homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
, forcible rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
. The property crime
Property crime
Property crime is a category of crime that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim...
index consists of burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
, larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
/theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
, motor vehicle theft
Motor vehicle theft
Motor vehicle theft is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle...
, and arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. Statistics for index offenses are generally available for the country as a whole, all fifty states
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
and all participating communities within the United States.
For example, Dallas is mentioned as having one of the highest crime rates in the nation. This indicator is important in demonstrating this statistic and understanding the intricacies of crime in Dallas. As noted above, “the crime rate” as reported in the news media typically refers to a combination of violent crime and property crime. In 2002, Dallas reportedly had 17,018 crimes, and 15,429 in 2005. However, in Dallas, as in many other cities, property crime accounts for the majority of offences, while “the crime rate" is frequently interpreted as the rate of violent crime.
The crime rate is measured by the number of offenses being reported per 100,000 people.
Crime over time
Crime has been a long-standing concern in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with high rates at the beginning of the 20th century compared to parts of Western Europe. In 1916, 198 homicides were recorded in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, a city of slightly over 2 million at the time. This level of crime was not exceptional when compared to other American cities such as New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, but was much higher relative to European cities, such as London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which then had three times the population but recorded only 45 homicides in the same year.
Post 1960s rise
Since 1964, the U.S. crime rate has increased by as much as 350%, and over 11 million crimes werereported in the year 2007 alone. Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the course of the last half-century, rising significantly in the late 1960s and 1970s, peaking in the early 1990s and then decreasing steadily from then on.
Over the past thirty years, the crime rate rose throughout the 1980s, reached its peak in 1993 and then began to decrease throughout the 1990s and 2000s. One hypothesis
Legalized abortion and crime effect
The effect of legalized abortion on crime is the theory that legal abortion reduces crime. Proponents of the theory generally argue that since unwanted children are more likely to become criminals and that an inverse correlation is observed between the availability of abortion and subsequent crime...
suggests there is a causal link between legalized abortion
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
and this drop. Another suggests reduced lead exposure as the cause; Scholar Mark A.R. Kleiman writes: "Given the decrease in lead exposure among children since the 1980s and the estimated effects of lead on crime, reduced lead exposure could easily explain a very large proportion—certainly more than half—of the crime decrease of the 1994-2004 period. A careful statistical study relating local changes in lead exposure to local crime rates estimates the fraction of the crime decline due to lead reduction as greater than 90 percent. (When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment, Princeton University Press 2009 page 133 citing Richard Nevin, "How Lead Exposure Relates to Temoral Changes in IQ, Violent Crime and Unwed Pregnancy," Environmental Research 83, 1 (2000): 1-22.)
1990s decline
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 1980s, it has declined steeply since 1993. Several theories have been proposed to explain the cause.- The first is the rate of gun ownership and the increase in laws allowing concealed carry of guns. Gun ownership reached its lowest levels in the early 1990s http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/poll-gun-ownership-20-high-140452521.html and at that time, the ability to carry a gun was very restricted. By 2010, 40 states had either implemented "Shall-Issue" concealed carry permit laws, or protected concealed carry unrestricted by permit.
- Another hypothesisLegalized abortion and crime effectThe effect of legalized abortion on crime is the theory that legal abortion reduces crime. Proponents of the theory generally argue that since unwanted children are more likely to become criminals and that an inverse correlation is observed between the availability of abortion and subsequent crime...
suggests a causal link between legalized abortionRoe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
and the drop in crime during the 1990s. - Another possibility sometimes suggested is the introduction of the Three Strikes LawThree strikes lawThree strikes laws)"are statutes enacted by state governments in the United States which require the state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended period of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions. These statutes became...
, which was first passed by Washington state in 1993, providing that felony offenders who committed a third offence receive life imprisonmentLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Other states that passed Three Strikes Laws include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota, Arkansas, Georgia, and Maryland.
The year 2010 was overall the safest year in almost forty 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
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
rate in particular has decreased 51% between its record high point in 1991 and 2010.
From 2000-2008, the homicide rate stagnated. 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 remained at 5.4-5.7 until 2009, when it dipped down to 5.0, and continued to drop in 2010 to 4.8.
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. Overall, the crime rate in the U.S. was the same in 2009 as in 1968, with the homicide rate being roughly the same as in 1964. Violent crime overall, however, is still at the same level as in 1973, despite having decreased steadily since 1991.
| Crime Rate | 1960 | 1961 | 1963 | 1965 | 1967 | 1969 | 1971 | 1973 | 1975 | 1977 | 1979 | 1981 | 1983 | 1985 | 1987 | 1989 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime rate | 160.9 | 158.1 | 168.2 | 200.2 | 253.2 | 328.7 | 396.0 | 417.4 | 487.8 | 475.9 | 548.9 | 594.3 | 537.7 | 556.6 | 609.7 | 663.1 | 758.2 | 747.1 | 684.5 | 611.0 | 523.0 | 504.5 | 475.8 | 469.0 | 472.0 | 429.4 | 403.6 |
| Homicide rate | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 6.2 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 9.4 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 9.8 | 9.5 | 8.2 | 6.8 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 4.8 |
| Property crime rate | 1,726 | 1,747 | 2,012 | 2,249 | 2,736 | 3,351 | 3,769 | 3,737 | 4,811 | 4,602 | 5,017 | 5,264 | 4,637 | 4,650 | 4,940 | 5,078 | 5,140 | 4,740 | 4,591 | 4,316 | 3,744 | 3,658 | 3,591 | 3,432 | 3,277 | 3,036 | 2,941 |
Crimes per 100,000 population
SOURCES: US Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (2010)
Characteristics of offenders
According to the latest US Department of Justice survey of crime victims, more than 6.6 million violent crimes (murder, rape, assault and robbery) are committed in the US each year, of which about 20 per cent, or 1.3 million, are inter-racial crimes.According to the survey "Highlights from 20 Years of Surveying Crime Victims", published in 1993, of the 20% of violent crimes that are interracial, 15% involve white victims and black offenders, 3% involve white victims and other-race offenders, and 2% involve black victims and white offender.
And according to the latest annual report on murder by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most inter-racial murders involve black assailants and white victims, with blacks murdering whites at 18 times the rate that whites murder blacks.
As of 2008, a statistics report which surveyed all persons arrested for offending, stated that of the crimes surveyed for which the identity of the offender could be determined, 77.2 percent of all persons arrested were white or Hispanic, 20.3 percent of people arrested for offending were black or black and Hispanic; and the remaining 2.4 percent were of other races. After arrest, 45.1% of violent crimes and 17.4% of property crimes nationwide were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.
As of 2008, statistics report that of 16,277 murders, 10,568 were committed by males, 1,176 were by female, and 4,533 were committed in which the offenders sex was unknown. Likewise, 5,334 murders were committed by white offenders, 5,943 were committed by black or black and Hispanic offenders, 273 were committed by offenders of other races, and 4,727 murders were committed by offenders whose race is not known.
Uniform Crime Reports
The Uniform Crime Reports are published by the United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program...
includes non-black Hispanics, and the "black" category includes black Hispanics."
A 2008 FBI Uniform Crime Report on rape and sexual-based crime published by the United States Department of Justice stated that of the crimes surveyed, whites represented 65.2% of persons arrested for rape, blacks represented 32.2%, with American Indians and Asians ranking just above 1%. "Hispanics", "Hispanic-White" or "Hispanic-Black" was not specified into any specific category.
According to the latest "Hate Crimes Reported by Victims
and Police," a 2008 Bureau of Justice Statistics
Report, hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
offenders were predominantly white (61%), whereas the victims were predominantly black (72.9%) and targeted because of their race (51%). Among religious hate crimes, the majority of victims were of Jewish faith (65.7%) with less than one in ten offenses aimed at people of the Muslim faith (7.7%). Among crimes aimed at ethnicity and national background, the majority of hate crimes were of anti-Hispanic bias (64%).
Reporting at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
(August 3, 2008), sociologists at Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
found that men who attend college are more likely to commit property crime
Property crime
Property crime is a category of crime that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim...
s during their college years than their non-college-attending peers. The research draws from three waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health is the only nationally representative study of adolescent sexuality, which has spawned over one thousand peer-reviewed publications on many issues related to adolescent health and sexuality, and other adolescent health risk behaviors.The Add...
and examines education, crime levels, substance abuse and socializing among adolescents and young adults. Also, according to Naci Mocan of the University of Colorado and Erdal Tekin of Georgia State University, "We find that unattractive individuals commit more crime in comparison to average-looking ones, and very attractive individuals commit less crime in comparison to those who are average-looking."
Prison statistics
Compared with other countries, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probationProbation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
or on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, of which 2.2 million were incarcerated. The People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
ranks second with 1.5 million. The United States has 5% of the world's population
World population
The world population is the total number of living humans on the planet Earth. As of today, it is estimated to be billion by the United States Census Bureau...
and 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
In terms of federal prison
Federal prison
Federal prisons are run by national governments in countries where subdivisions of the country also operate prisons.In the United States federal prisons are operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In Canada the Correctional Service of Canada operates federal prisons. Prison sentences in these...
, 57% of those incarcerated were sentenced for drug offenses
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
. However, the federal prison population is a very small percentage of the massive state prison population, which also holds numerous people convicted of drug offenses. Currently, considering local jails as well, almost a million of those incarcerated are in prison for non-violent crime. In 2002, 93.2% of prisoners were male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...
. 10.4% of the black males in the United States between the ages of 25 and 29 were sentenced and in prison by year end, as were 2.4% of Hispanic males and 1.2% of white males.
Many sociologists and criminal justice academics argue that this disparity in prison population is reflective of discriminatory sentencing. In a study conducted by the Rand Corporation, it has been estimated that Blacks and Latinos received longer sentences and spent more time in jail than their white counterparts who were convicted of similar crimes and with similar criminal records. One particular example revealed the state of California statistically imposed sentences that averaged 6.5 months longer for Hispanics, and 1.5 months longer for Blacks when compared to white inmates.
More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that costs state governments nearly $50 billion a year and the federal government $5 billion more. With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States leads the world in both the number and percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
a remote second, according to a study by the Pew Center on the States. For example, Florida, which has almost doubled its prison population over the past 15 years, has experienced a smaller drop in crime than New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, which, after a brief increase, has reduced its number of inmates to below the 1993 level.
Crime victimology
Victimology
Victimology is the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system — that is, the police and courts, and corrections officials — and the connections between victims and other social groups...
of crime in the United States. Overall, the financially disadvantaged, females, those younger than 25 and non Whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
were more likely to fall victim to crime. Income
Household income in the United States
Household income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions, that counts the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support...
, sex and age had the most dramatic effect on the chances of a person being victimized by crime, while the characteristic of race depended upon the crime being committed.
In 2005, 2.7% of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s became the victim of a violent crime, compared to 2.0% of Whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
. African Americans were overall 35% more likely to sustain a violent crime. The likelihood of being murdered was drastically higher for African Americans. In 2004 African Americans constituted roughly 13.4% of the general population, yet, nearly half, 49%, of all murder victims in 2005 were African American.
Sexual assault and rape rates were roughly the same for all races. Whites and African Americans also had approximately the same chances of falling victim to simple assaults.
In terms of gender, males were more likely to become crime victims than 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, households with a 2008 annual income
Household income in the United States
Household income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions, that counts the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support...
of less than $15,000 were significantly more likely to have their homes burgled.
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, 3.03% of crimes committed against a young person were theft, while 20% of crimes committed against an elderly person were theft. Thus, one can conclude that the probability of becoming a violent crime victim decreases as income and age increase, in addition to being lower for European Americans and females.
Crimes against the homeless
A 2007 study found that the number of violent crimes against the homeless is increasing. The rate of such documented crimes in 2005 was 30% higher than of those in 1999. 75% of all perpetrators are under the age of 25. Studies and surveys indicate that homeless people have a much higher criminal victimization rate than the non-homeless, but that most incidents never get reported to authorities.In recent years, largely due to the efforts of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and academic researchers the problem of violence against the homeless has gained national attention. The NCH called deliberate attacks against the homeless hate crimes in their report Hate, Violence, and Death on Mainstreet USA (they retain the definition of the American Congress).
The Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
, San Bernardino in conjunction with the NCH found that 155 homeless people were killed by non-homeless people in "hate killings", while 76 people were killed in all the other traditional hate crime homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
categories such as race and religion, combined. The CSHE contends that negative and degrading portrayals of the homeless contribute to a climate where violence takes place.
International comparison
The manner in which America's crime rate compared to other countries of similar wealth and development depends on the nature of the crime used in the comparison. Overall crime statistic comparisons are difficult to conduct, as the definition of crimes significant enough to be published in annual reports varies across countries. Thus an agency in a foreign country may include crimes in its annual reports which the United States omits.Some countries such as Canada, however, have similar definitions of what constitutes a violent crime, and nearly all countries had the same definition of the characteristics that constitutes a homicide. Overall the total crime rate of the United States is similar to that of other highly developed countries. Some types of reported property crime
Property crime
Property crime is a category of crime that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim...
in the U.S. survey as lower than in Germany or Canada, yet the homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
rate in the United States is substantially higher.
Homicide
The US homicide rate, which has declined substantially since 1991 from a rate per 100,000 persons of 9.8 to 4.8 in 2010, is still among the highest in the industrialized world. There were 14,748 murders in the United States in 2010 (666,160 murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
s from 1960 to 1996). In 2004, there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons, roughly three times as high as Canada (1.9) and six times as high as Germany (0.9). A closer look at The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data indicates that per-capita homicide rates over the last 30 years on average of major cities, New Orleans' average per capita homicide rate of 52 murders per 100,000 people overall (1980–2009) ranks highest among major U.S. cities Most industrialized countries had homicide rates below the 2.5 mark.
| Country | Ireland | Germany | Netherlands | Norway | United Kingdom | France | Canada | Scotland | United States | Russia | Venezuela | El Salvador | Honduras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide rate (per hundred thousand) | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.59 | 4.8 | 13 | 48 | 65 | 78 |
| Year | 2000 | 2007 | 2007 | 2006 | 2000 | 2004 | 2004 | 2001 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 |
In the United States, the number of homicides where the victim and offender relationship was undetermined has been increasing since 1999 but has not reached the levels experienced in the early 1990s. In 14% of all murders, the victim and the offender were strangers. Spouses and family members made up about 15% of all victims, about one-third of the victims were acquaintances of the assailant, and the victim and offender relationship was undetermined in over one-third of homicides.
Gun involvement in homicides were gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
related homicides which increased after 1980, homicides that occurred during the commission of a felony which increased from 55% in 1985 to 77% in 2005, homicides resulting from arguments which declined to the lowest levels recorded recently, and homicides resulting from other circumstances which remained relatively constant. Because gang killing has become a normal part of inner cities, many including police, hold preconceptions about the causes of death in inner cities. When a death is labeled gang related it lowers the chances that it will be investigated and increases the chances that the perpetrator will remain at large. In addition, victims of gang killings often determine the priority a case will be given by police. Jenkins (1988) argues that many serial murder cases remain unknown to police and that cases involving Black offenders and victims are especially likely to escape official attention.
Violent crime
Property crime
According to a 2004 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, looking at the period from 1981 to 1999, the United States had a lower surveyed residential burglaryBurglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
rate in 1998 than Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Netherlands, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The other two countries included in the study, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, had only slightly lower burglary rates. (Note: The rate of burglary in Police records remained higher in the U.S. than most other countries during the study period (see graph)). For the first nine years of the study period the same surveys of the public showed only Australia with rates higher than the U.S. The authors noted various problems in doing the comparisons including infrequent data points (The U.S. performed 5 surveys from 1995 to 1999 when its rate dipped below Canada's while Canada ran a single telephone survey during that period for comparison).
Physical abuse and neglect of children
According to a 2001 report from UNICEF, the United States has the highest rate of deaths from child abuse and neglect of any industrialised nation, at 2.4 per 100,000 children; France has 1.4, Japan 1, UK 0.9 and Germany 0.8. According to the US Department of Health, the state of Texas has the highest death rate, at 4.05 per 100,000 children, New York has 2.46, Oregon 1.49 and New Hampshire 0.35.Geography of crime
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. While some responding jurisdictions are nearly free of serious crime, others are plagued by some of the highest serious crime rates in the industrialized world. The homicide rate exemplifies the stark differences between communities.
For example, in 2004 the New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
police departments reported more homicides per 100,000 residents than any other jurisdiction. The rate of homicide per 100,000 was 56.0, which was ten times the national average. By contrast, in 2005 Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
magazine listed Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, one of the suburban areas of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which is also one of the wealthiest and most expensive communities in the United States, as having 2.042 crimes per 100,000 residents; the lowest crime rate and less than half the US average http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/05/04/cz_05bestplaces_bestcrimeslide.html.
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, a very affluent
Household income in the United States
Household income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions, that counts the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support...
suburban enclave of the nation's capital
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
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 Philadelphia'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.
Large cities
Crime among the country's twenty largest 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 a given city's police department.Rates are based on cases per 100,000 for all of calendar 2007.
| City | State | Population | Violent crime | Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter | Forcible rape | Robbery | Aggravated assault | Property crime | Burglary | Larceny-theft | Motor vehicle theft | Arson |
| Austin Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in... |
Texas | 716,817 | 540 | 4 | 46 | 203 | 287 | 6,341 | 1,120 | 4,808 | 413 | 16 |
| Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore... |
Maryland | 624,237 | 1,631 | 45 | 23 | 624 | 939 | 4,796 | 1,182 | 2,682 | 932 | 65 |
| Chicago | Illinois | 2,824,434 | N/A | 16 | N/A | 546 | 617 | 4,472 | 876 | 2,937 | 659 | 25 |
| Columbus Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city... |
Ohio | 735,981 | 852 | 11 | 90 | 523 | 228 | 6,996 | 1,952 | 4,198 | 846 | 87 |
| Dallas Dallas, Texas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States... |
Texas | 1,239,104 | 1,069 | 16 | 41 | 583 | 429 | 6,776 | 1,814 | 1,113 | 73 | |
| Detroit Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River... |
Michigan | 860,971 | 2,289 | 46 | 40 | 764 | 1,440 | 6,772 | 2,064 | 2,430 | 2,278 | 88 |
| El Paso El Paso, Texas El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States... |
Texas | 616,029 | 418 | 3 | 42 | 77 | 297 | 3,201 | 349 | 2,361 | 492 | 13 |
| Fort Worth Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and... |
Texas | 670,693 | 667 | 9 | 50 | 242 | 367 | 5,469 | 1,343 | 3,726 | 400 | 34 |
| Houston | Texas | 2,169,544 | 1,132 | 16 | 32 | 529 | 555 | 5,684 | 1,339 | 3,449 | 897 | 48 |
| Indianapolis Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S... |
Indiana | 797,268 | 1,234 | 14 | 63 | 507 | 649 | 6,308 | 1,679 | 3,666 | 963 | 42 |
| Jacksonville Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968... |
Florida | 797,350 | 1,022 | 15 | 31 | 391 | 584 | 5,696 | 1,394 | 3,698 | 604 | 23 |
| Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... |
California | 3,870,487 | 718 | 10 | 26 | 348 | 334 | 2,621 | 507 | 1,506 | 608 | 57 |
| Memphis Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers.... |
Tennessee | 669,264 | 1,951 | 19 | 68 | 728 | 1,136 | 8,062 | 2,183 | 4,953 | 926 | 22 |
| New York | New York | 8,220,196 | 614 | 6 | 11 | 265 | 332 | 1,819 | 254 | 1,403 | 161 | N/A |
| Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 1,635,533 | 1,475 | 47 | 37 | 1215 | 767 | 4,305 | 803 | 2,728 | 774 | N/A |
| Phoenix Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data... |
Arizona | 1,541,698 | 724 | 14 | 33 | 321 | 356 | 5,826 | 1,246 | 3,227 | 1,353 | 32 |
| San Antonio San Antonio, Texas San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,... |
Texas | 1,316,882 | 556 | 9 | 48 | 186 | 313 | 6,390 | 1,272 | 4,607 | 511 | 35 |
| San Diego San Diego, California San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round... |
California | 1,261,196 | 502 | 5 | 23 | 166 | 308 | 3,502 | 609 | 1,845 | 1,049 | 16 |
| San Francisco | California | 733,799 | 1,037 | 14 | 17 | 514 | 493 | 4,696 | 692 | 3,199 | 804 | 32 |
| San Jose San Jose, California San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay... |
California | 934,553 | 402 | 4 | 23 | 114 | 261 | 2,575 | 476 | 1,412 | 686 | 36 |
SOURCES: FBI Uniform Crime Reports (2007)
States
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
had the lowest crime rates, for both violent and property crimes. New England states also had the lowest homicide rates in the country.
A closer look at per capita homicide rates for each state from FBI Uniform Crime Reports Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that Louisiana's per capita homicide rate has ranked 1st every single year from 1989 to 2010, which is 22 consecutive years.
Southern states
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
had the highest overall crime rates. Crime can also be isolated to one particular part of a state. Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, for instance had 6 murders per 100,000 people in 2004, while New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, had 56 murders per 100,000 people according to Bureau of Justice
Statistics for the same year.
Almost all of the nation's wealthiest twenty states, which included northern mid-western and western states such as Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, had crime rates below the national average. In addition to having the country's lowest crime rates, New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
states also had the country's highest median household income, while the Southern states have the lowest.
This contrasts starkly to some of the nation's poorer states such as Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
or Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. 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 poorer states generally have higher crime rates, several states who fell below the national median for household income such as Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
also had crime rates below the national average, while some wealthier states such as Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
had crime rates above the national average.
See also
- List of United States criminals
- List of serial killers in the United States of America
- United States cities by crime rateUnited States cities by crime rateThe following table of United States cities by crime rate is based on Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports statistics. The population numbers are based on U.S. Census estimates for the year end. The number of murders includes nonnegligent manslaughter. This list is based on the...
- Race and crime in the United StatesRace and crime in the United StatesThe relationship between race and crime in the United States has been a topic of public controversy and scholarly debate for more than a century...
- Rape in the United States of America
- Gangs in the United StatesGangs in the United StatesStreet gangs in the United States date to the early 19th century. The most publicized street gangs in the U.S. are African-American; black gangs were not recognized as a social problem until after the great migration of the 1910s...
- National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification IndexNational Crime Information Center Interstate Identification IndexThe National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification Index, or NCIC-III, is a United States cooperative Federal-state program for the interstate exchange of criminal history record information. The data is held by the National Crime Information Center...
- America's Safest and Most Dangerous CitiesAmerica's Safest and Most Dangerous CitiesAmerica's Safest and Most Dangerous Cities is a publication issued annually by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc., that ranks American cities on the basis of safety and crime...
Related:
- Terrorism in the United StatesTerrorism in the United StatesA common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change...
- Incarceration in the United States
- Law enforcement in the United States