1 Crime in American Society

2 Crime Data Sources Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Self-Report

UCR Crime Data CRIMESNUMBER (%)RATE/100,000 Violent Crime1,531, Murder16, Rape93, Robbery446, Ag Assault974, Prop. Crime10,944, ,049.1 ALL CRIME12,475, ,615.5 U.S. Population in 1998: 270,296,000

4 UCR Index Crime Rate Over Time New York United States Pennsylvania

5 THE CRIME DROP The U.S. crime rate States has declined for the past several years. –What do you think are the main causes of the declining U.S. crime rate?

6 Explaining the Crime Drop Aging of the baby boomer cohort Get tough policies (three strikes, new prison construction, determinate sentencing) Community-oriented policing Booming economy, low unemployment Stabilization of drug (crack) markets Despite the recent drop, U.S. crime remains higher than any other industrialized nation.

7 UCR and NCVS Crime Data UCR %Rate NCVS %Rate Violent Crime ,660 Rape Robbery Assault ,110 All Crimes12,475,63431,307, data, rates per 100,000 population

8 Crime by Females Is UP! Source: UCR, 1998 MaleFemale Violent+36.3%+142.6% Property-5.3%+44.9% Source: UCR, 1998 Change in # offenses,

9 Still, Most Crimes Known to the Police are by Males Source: UCR, 1998

10 Age and Crimes Known to the Police Source: Sourcebook, 1999

11 The Young Commit More Crimes Crime % Committed by People Under 22 Violent 34% Homicide 40% Property 51% Source: UCR, 1998

12 African Americans Overrepresented Among Crimes Known to the Police Source: UCR, 1998

13 Victimization Risk Highest for: Male Young Black Lower Income Urban Elderly are lest likely to be victimized teenagers most likely

14 Rape and Sexual Abuse Almost 2/3 of rape victims are raped by known persons. 1/3 are raped by strangers Rape is most likely to occur in the victims home or some other familiar place (NCVS) Nearly all women in prison have been physically or sexually abused as children

15 Basic Facts About Crime Between 12% (UCR) and 27% (NCVS) of all crimes are violent Violent crime has declined since 1991, but remains 2 to 15 times higher than other industrialized nations Next to gender, age is the best overall predictor of crime

16 Other Facts to Consider More crimes are committed during July, August, and December (fewest are committed in January). Why? Most crimes are committed at night, especially Friday and Saturday night Over half of all homicides and assaults are committed against known persons