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Crime in the United States

May 11, 2023

Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding. Crime rates have varied over time, with a sharp rise after 1900 and reaching a broad bulging peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates began to fall year by year and have since declined significantly. This trend lasted until 2015, when crime rates began to rise slightly. This reversed in 2018 and 2019, but violent crime increased significantly again in 2020.[1][2] Homicide rate in the U.S. continues to be high, with four major U.S. cities ranked among the 50 cities with the highest homicide rate in the world in 2019. Despite the increase in violent crime, particularly murders, between 2020 and 2021, the quantity of overall crime is still far below the peak of crime seen in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s, as other crimes such as rape, property crime and robbery continued to decline.[3][4] The aggregate cost of crime in the United States remains high, with an estimated value of $4.9 trillion reported in 2021.[5]

United States
Crime rates* (2020)
Violent crimes
Homicide6.5
Rape38.4
Robbery73.9
Aggravated assault279.7
Total violent crime398.5
Property crimes
Burglary314.2
Larceny-theft1,398
Motor vehicle theft246
Total property crime1,958.2
Notes

*Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population.

 Estimated total population: 329,500,000.
In 2013 the FBI modified the definition of rape.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer

Statistics on specific crimes are indexed in the annual Uniform Crime Reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and by annual National Crime Victimization Surveys by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In addition to the primary Uniform Crime Report known as Crime in the United States, the FBI publishes annual reports on the status of law enforcement in the United States. The report's definitions of specific crimes are considered standard by many American law enforcement agencies. According to the FBI, index crime in the United States includes violent crime and property crime. Violent crime consists of five criminal offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and gang violence; property crime consists of burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

The basic aspect of a crime considers the offender, the victim, type of crime, severity and level, and location. These are the basic questions asked by law enforcement when first investigating any situation. This information is formatted into a government record by a police arrest report, also known as an incident report. These forms lay out all the information needed to put the crime in the system and it provides a strong outline for further law enforcement agents to review. Society has a strong misconception about crime rates due to media aspects heightening their fear factor.[6] The system's crime data fluctuates by crime depending on certain influencing social factors such as economics, the dark figure of crime, population, and geography.[6]

Crime over time

 
Property crime rates in the United States per 100,000 population beginning in 1960. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In the long term, violent crime in the United States has been in decline since colonial times. The homicide rate has been estimated to be over 30 per 100,000 people in 1700, dropping to under 20 by 1800, and to under 10 by 1900.[7]

After World War II, crime rates increased in the United States, peaking from the 1970s to the early-1990s. Violent crime nearly quadrupled between 1960 and its peak in 1991. Property crime more than doubled over the same period. Since the 1990s, however, contrary to common misconception,[8] crime in the United States has declined steadily, and has significantly declined by the late 1990s and also in the early 2000s. Several theories have been proposed to explain this decline:

  • The lead–crime hypothesis 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.[9]
  • The number of police officers hired and employed to various police forces increased considerably in the 1990s.[10]
  • On September 16, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law. Under the act, over $30 billion in federal aid was spent over a six-year period to improve state and local law enforcement, prisons and crime prevention programs. Proponents of the law, including the President, touted it as a lead contributor to the sharp drop in crime which occurred throughout the 1990s, while critics have dismissed it as an unprecedented federal boondoggle.[11]
     
    Total incarceration in the United States by year
  • The prison population has rapidly increased since the mid-1970s.[10]
  • Starting in the mid-1980s, the crack-cocaine market grew rapidly before declining again a decade later. Some authors have pointed towards the link between violent crimes and crack use.[10]
  • Legalized abortion reduced the number of children born to mothers in difficult circumstances, and difficult childhood makes children more likely to become criminals.[12]
  • The changing demographics of an aging population has been cited for the drop in overall crime.[13]
  • Rising income[14]
  • The introduction of the data-driven policing practice CompStat significantly reduced crimes in cities that adopted it.[14]
  • The quality and extent of use of security technology both increased around the time of the crime decline, after which the rate of car theft declined; this may have caused rates of other crimes to decline as well.[15]
  • Increased rates of immigration to the United States[16][17]

Violent crime rates (per 100,000) in the United States (1960-2018):[18][19]

Property crime rates (per 100,000) in the United States (1960–2018):[18][19]

Arrests

 
A man being arrested for public intoxication in Washington, D.C., 1974

Each state has a set of statutes enforceable within its own borders. A state has no jurisdiction outside of its borders, even though still in the United States. It must request extradition from the state in which the suspect has fled. In 2014, there were 186,873 misdemeanor suspects outside specific states jurisdiction against whom no extradition would be sought. Philadelphia has about 20,000 of these since it is near a border with four other states. Extradition is estimated to cost a few hundred dollars per case.[20]

Analysis of arrest data from California indicates that the most common causes of felony arrest are for violent offenses such as robbery and assault, property offenses such as burglary and auto theft, and drug offenses. For misdemeanors, the most common causes of arrest were traffic offenses, most notably impaired driving, drug offenses, and failure to appear in court. Other common causes of misdemeanor arrest included assault and battery and minor property offenses such as petty theft.[21]

Arrested offenders by gender

 
Jane Toppan Under questioning, she stated she derived a sexual thrill from patients being near death.

According to the Office Of Justice Programs, crimes like burglary and vandalism have gone down during the past few years for men, and crimes like murder and robbery have gone down for women. For both genders, most of the crimes committed are done by people ages 25 and above.

Arrested Offenders by Gender (Male) (2016-2020)
Murder Assault Robbery Arson Burglary Vandalism
2020 10,900 293,230 57,590 7,720 120,740 133,260
2019 9,600 295,040 62,930 7,100 136,420 138,620
2018 10,520 302,600 74,650 7,280 143,570 138,120
2017 10,670 298,250 80,250 7,280 161,790 145,920
2016 10,370 294,850 82,140 7,680 168,880 152,900
Arrested Offenders by gender (Female) (2016-2020)
Murder Assault Robbery Arson Burglary Vandalism
2020 1,540 87,960 10,310 2,060 28,610 40,510
2019 1,460 90,230 11,620 1,960 35,170 41,880
2018 1,450 93,200 13,480 2,110 35,040 41,710
2017 1,530 90,670 13,800 1,830 37,480 42,430
2016 1,420 89,120 13,620 2,130 38,440 43,050

Arrested offenders by age

 
ferrotype of Henry McCarty, alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid

In 2020, out of the 7,632,470 crimes documented that year, 5,721,190 of them were committed by someone who was at least 25 years of age.[22] 4,225,140 of them being committed by men and 1,496,050 being committed by women. It isn't some random spike seen with adults either. The number of crimes being committed by each age group increases with every year.

Arrested Offenders by Age (Both Genders)
0-17 18-20 21-24 25 and Older
2020 424,300 592,260 894,730 5,721,190
2019 684,230 804,720 1,199,730 7,396,530
2018 721,630 896,240 1,314,940 7,378,150
2017 801,310 1,015,420 1,433,060 7,305,200
2016 855,460 1,080,580 1,546,400 7,179,810

Influences on crime

 
A wanted poster issued by the DEA.

In 2020, 75% of all the crimes listed were committed by adults ages 25+, while only 16% were committed by juveniles 17 and younger. In 2019, 94% of crimes were committed by adults. The data shows a gradual increase in crimes as individuals age. With only a fraction of crimes being committed by someone who is under 18, this demonstrates how over time children will begin to commit more crimes due to conditioning from their environment and the influence of other adults. Children being exposed to violence at a young age is a learned behavior that ends increasing their chances of committing violent acts when they're older by as much as 40%.[23]

Offender patterns and behavior

Research suggests that being socially isolated along with parents not setting boundaries while not teaching their kids about the risk and consequences of certain actions can cause them to commit violent acts as they get older. A lot of the times, these types of situations are most common in highly populated cities like Stockton and Oakland, causing the cycle to repeat.[24]

Crime type and severity

People are more likely to fear and be less sympathetic toward offenders with a violent criminal history.[25] Violent criminal history includes any offense, of the severity of a violent felony, such as rape, homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery.[26] People associate these criminals with a negative connotation especially in comparison to those with a non-violent, non-sexual, criminal history, offenses with a misdemeanor severity level.[25]

Crime victimology

 
The U.S. accounts for 97% of gun-related child deaths among similar countries, despite making up only 46% of this group’s overall population.[27]
 
Homicide victimization rate for whites and blacks, according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics.[28]

In 2011, surveys indicated more than 5.8 million violent victimizations and 17.1 million property victimizations took place in the United States; according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, each property victimization corresponded to one household, while violent victimizations is the number of victims of a violent crime.[29]

Patterns are found within the victimology of crime in the United States. Overall, people with lower incomes, those younger than 25, and non-whites were more likely to report being the victim of crime.[29] Income, gender, 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.[29]

In terms of gender, the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) published in 2019 that "the percentage of violent victimizations reported to police was higher for females (46%) than for males (36%)". This difference can largely be attributed to reporting of simple assaults, as the percentages of violent victimizations reported to police, excluding simple assault, were similar for females (47%) and males (46%). The victim-to-population ratio of 1.0 for both males and females shows that the percentage of violent incidents involving male (49%) or female (51%) victims was equal to males' (49%) or females' (51%) share of the population.[30]

In regards to rape, the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) indicates females are disproportionately more affected than males. According to the data collected from 2010 to 2020, women make 89% of victims of rape, while men make 11%. Perpetrators are 93% men.[31]

Concerning age, those younger than twenty-five were more likely to fall victim to crime, especially violent crime.[32] The chances of being victimized by violent crime decreased far more substantially with age than the chances of becoming the victim of property crime.[32] For example, 3.03% of crimes committed against a young person were theft, while 20% of crimes committed against an elderly person were theft.[32]

Bias motivation reports showed that of the 7,254 hate crimes reported in 2011, 47.7% (3,465) were motivated by race, with 72% (2,494) of race-motivated incidents being anti-black.[33] In addition, 20.8% (1,508) of hate crimes were motivated by sexual orientation, with 57.8% (871) of orientation-motivated incidents being anti-male homosexual.[33] The third largest motivation factor for hate crime was religion, representing 18.2% (1,318) incidents, with 62.2% (820) of religion-motivated incidents being anti-Jewish.[33]

As of 2007, violent crime against homeless people is increasing.[34]

The likelihood of falling victim to crime relates to both demographic and geographic characteristics.[35]

In 2010, according to the UNODC, 67.5% of all homicides in the United States were perpetrated using a firearm.[36] The costliest crime in terms of total financial impact on all of its victims, and the most underreported crime is rape, in the United States.[37][38]

Incarceration

Main article: Incarceration in the United States
 
A map of U.S. states by incarceration rate under state prison jurisdiction (but excluding jail and federal prison inmates) per 100,000 population.
 
As of 2001, the lifetime likelihood of ever going to prison for various demographic groups, by percentages
 
Felony Sentences in State Courts, study by the United States Department of Justice.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world (which includes pre-trial detainees and sentenced prisoners).[39] As of 2009, 2.3 million people were incarcerated in the United States, including federal and state prisons and local jails, creating an incarceration rate of 793 persons per 100,000 of national population.[39] During 2011, 1.6 million people were incarcerated under the jurisdiction of federal and state authorities.[40] At the end of 2011, 492 persons per 100,000 U.S. residents were incarcerated in federal and state prisons.[40] Of the 1.6 million state and federal prisoners, nearly 1.4 million people were under state jurisdiction, while 215,000 were under federal jurisdiction.[40] Demographically, nearly 1.5 million prisoners were male, and 115,000 were female, while 581,000 prisoners were black, 516,000 were white, and 350,000 were Hispanic.[40]

Among the 1.35 million sentenced state prisoners in 2011, 725,000 people were incarcerated for violent crimes, 250,000 were incarcerated for property crimes, 237,000 people were incarcerated for drug crimes, and 150,000 were incarcerated for other offenses.[40] Of the 200,000 sentenced federal prisoners in 2011, 95,000 were incarcerated for drug crimes, 69,000 were incarcerated for public order offenses, 15,000 were incarcerated for violent crimes, and 11,000 were incarcerated for property crimes.[40]

International comparison

The manner in which the United States' crime rate compares to other countries of similar wealth and development depends on the nature of the crime used in the comparison.[41] Overall crime statistic comparisons are difficult to conduct, as the definition and categorization of crimes varies across countries. Thus an agency in a foreign country may include crimes in its annual reports which the U.S. omits, and vice versa.

However, some countries such as Canada have similar definitions of what constitutes a violent crime, and nearly all countries had the same definition of the characteristics that constitutes a homicide.[citation needed] Overall the total crime rate of the United States is higher than developed countries, specifically Europe and East Asia, with South American countries and Russia being the exceptions.[42] 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 as is the prison population.

 
The Hip Sing Association building in Seattle, Washington.

The difference in homicide rate between the U.S. and other high income countries has widened in recent years especially since the 30% rise in 2020 was not replicated elsewhere, and is also above many developing countries such as China, India and Turkey.[citation needed] In the European Union, homicides fell 32% between 2008-2019 to 3,875[43] while rising by 4,901 in the U.S. in 2020 alone,[44] leaving the U.S. with a homicide rate 7x higher. In reputable estimates of crime across the globe, the U.S. generally ranks slightly below the middle, roughly 70th lowest or 100th highest.[45][46]

Violent crime

See also: Violent crime in the United States, Gun violence in the United States, List of U.S. states by homicide rate, and List of countries by intentional homicide rate by decade

The reported U.S. violent crime rate includes murder, rape and sexual assault, robbery, and assault,[47] whereas the Canadian violent crime rate includes all categories of assault, including Assault level 1 (i.e., assault not using a weapon and not resulting in serious bodily harm).[48][49] A Canadian government study concluded that direct comparison of the two countries' violent crime totals or rates was "inappropriate".[50]

France does not count minor violence such as punching or slapping as assault, whereas Austria, Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom do count such occurrences.[51]

The United Kingdom similarly has different definitions of what constitutes violent crime compared to the United States, making a direct comparison of the overall figure flawed. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports defines a "violent crime" as one of four specific offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The British Home Office, by contrast, has a different definition of violent crime, including all "crimes against the person", including simple assaults, all robberies, and all "sexual offenses", as opposed to the FBI, which only counts aggravated assaults and "forcible rapes".[52]

Crime rates are necessarily altered by averaging neighborhood higher or lower local rates over a larger population which includes the entire city. Having small pockets of dense crime may increase a city's average crime rate. It is estimated that violent crime accounts for as much as $2.2 trillion by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, accounting for about 85% of the total cost of crime in the United States.[53]

Police-recorded violent crime rates per 100,000 population[54][55][56][57]
Country Homicide Rape Sexual assault Robbery Assault
Australia 1.2 — † 80.0 2012 [55]† 18 327
Germany 0.8 9.4 2010 56.9 2010 60 630
England/Wales 1.1 28.8 2010 82.1 2010 137 730
Scotland 1.6 17.0 2009 124.6 2009 48 1487
United States 5.0 44.4 2018 UCR[58] 270.0 2018 NCVS[59]^ 133 241
Sweden 1.0 63.5 2010 183.0 2010 103 927

†Australian statistics record only sexual assault, and do not have separate statistics for rape only. Sexual assault is defined to include rape, attempted rape, aggravated sexual assault (assault with a weapon), indecent assault, penetration by objects, forced sexual activity that did not end in penetration and attempts to force a person into sexual activity; but excludes unwanted sexual touching. [60]

^UCR rape statistics do NOT include sexual assault, while the NCVS does, furthermore NCVS define sexual assault to include as well sexual touching with/without force, and verbal threats of rape or sexual assault, as well as rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault that isn't rape.[56][57]

Homicide

 
Intentional homicide rate per 100,000 residents by state, including District of Columbia, 2019.[61]
 
Homicide rate by county 2014-2020 average rate per year per 100,000 people
See also: List of countries by intentional homicide rate and List of U.S. states and territories by intentional homicide rate
 
The historical homicide rate in the U.S. from 1900–2001

According to a 2013 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), between 2005 and 2012, the average homicide rate in the U.S. was 4.9 per 100,000 inhabitants compared to the average rate globally, which was 6.2. However, the U.S. had much higher murder rates compared to four other selected "developed countries", which all had average homicide rates of 0.8 per 100,000.[42] 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 and Italy (0.9).[62][48]

In 2018, the US murder rate was 5.0 per 100,000, for a total of 15,498 murders.[63]

Country Singapore Iceland Armenia United States Moldova South Sudan Panama
Homicide rate (per hundred thousand)
(international methodology)[42]		 0.2 0.5 1.7 5.1 5.2 12 53.1

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.[64]

According to the FBI, "When the race of the offender was known, 53.0 percent were black, 44.7 percent were white, and 2.3 percent were of other races. The race was unknown for 4,132 offenders. (Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3). Of the offenders for whom gender was known, 88.2 percent were male."[65] According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 1980 to 2008, 84 percent of white homicide victims were killed by white offenders and 93 percent of black homicide victims were killed by black offenders.[28]

Gun violence

See also: Gun violence in the United States
 
Gun homicide rate vs gun ownership rate in developed countries.
 
Civilian guns per capita by country, Small Arms Survey 2017[66]

The United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership per capita.[66][67][68] According to the CDC, between 1999 and 2014 there were 185,718 homicides from use of a firearm and 291,571 suicides using a firearm.[69] The U.S. gun homicide rate in 2019 was 18 times the average rate in other developed countries.[70] Despite a significant increase in the sales of firearms since 1994, the US has seen a drop in the annual rate of homicides using a firearm from 7.0 per 100,000 population in 1993 to 3.6 per 100,000 in 2013.[71] In the ten years between 2000 and 2009, the ATF reported 37,372,713 clearances for purchase, however, in the four years between 2010 and 2013, the ATF reported 31,421,528 clearances.[72]

Property crime

 
Burglary rates, select industrialized countries, U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics

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 burglary 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. For the first nine years of the study period the same surveys of the public showed only Australia with rates higher than the United States. The authors noted various problems in doing the comparisons including infrequent data points. (The United States performed five surveys from 1995 to 1999 when its rate dipped below Canada's, while Canada ran a single telephone survey during that period for comparison.)[41]

Crimes against children

Further information: Child abuse § U.S. statistics, and Child sexual abuse § United States and Europe

Violence against children from birth to adolescence is considered a "global phenomenon that takes many forms (physical, sexual, emotional), and occurs in many settings, including the home, school, community, care, and justice systems, and over the Internet."[73]

According to a 2001 report from UNICEF, the United States has the highest rate of deaths from child abuse and neglect of any industrialized 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 4.1 per 100,000 children, New York has 2.5, Oregon 1.5 and New Hampshire 0.4. [74] A 2018 report from the Congressional Research Service stated, at the national level, violent crime and homicide rates have increased each year from 2014 to 2016.[75]

In 2016, data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) revealed that approximately 1,750 children died from either abuse or neglect; further, this is a continuing trend with an increasing 7.4% of crimes against children from 2012 to 2016 and these statistics can be compared to a rate of 2.36 children per 100,000 children in the United States general population.[76] In addition, 44.2% of these 2016 statistics are specific to physical abuse towards a child.[76]

A 2016 report from the Child Welfare Information Gateway also showed that parents account for 78% of violence against children in the United States.[citation needed]

Human trafficking

Main article: Human trafficking in the United States

Human trafficking is categorized into the following three groups: (1) sex trafficking; (2) sex and labor trafficking; and (3) labor trafficking; In addition, the rate of domestic minor sex trafficking has exponentially increased over the years. Sex trafficking of children also referred to as commercial sexual exploitation of children, is categorized by the following forms: pornography, prostitution, child sex tourism, and child marriage. Profiles of traffickers and types of trafficking differ in the way victims are abducted, how they are treated, and the reason for the abduction.

According to a 2017 report from the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH), out of 10,615 reported survivors of sex trafficking, 2,762 of those survivors were minors.[77]

The U.S. Department of Justice defines Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) as a range of crimes and activities involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of a child for the financial benefit of any person or in exchange for anything of value (including monetary and non-monetary benefits) given or received by any person. These crimes against children, which may occur at any time or place, rob them of their childhood and are extremely detrimental to their emotional and psychological development.[78]

Types of human sex trafficking

In pimp-controlled trafficking, the pimp typically is the only trafficker involved who has full physical, psychological and emotional control over the victim. In gang-controlled trafficking, a large group of people has power over the victim, forcing the victim to take part in illegal or violent tasks for the purpose of obtaining drugs. Another form is called Familial trafficking, which differs the most from the two mentioned above because the victim is typically not abducted. Instead, the victim is forced into being sexually exploited by family members in exchange for something of monetary value, whether that's paying back debt, or obtaining drugs or money. This type of sexual exploitation tends to be the most difficult to detect, yet remains as the most prevalent form of human sex trafficking within the United States.[78]

In 2009, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported that the average age when children first fall victim to CSEC is between ages 12 and 14. However, this age has become increasingly younger due to exploiters' fear of contracting HIV or AIDS from older victims.[78]

In 2018, the Office of Public Affairs within the Department of Justice released a report from operation "Broken Heart" conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces, stating that more than 2,300 suspected online child sex offenders were arrested on the following allegations:[79]

  1. produce, distribute, receive and possess child pornography
  2. engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes
  3. engage in the sex trafficking of children
  4. travel across state lines or to foreign countries and sexually abuse children

In addition, a 2011 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics described the characteristics of suspected human trafficking incidents, identifying roughly 95% of victims as female and over half as 17 years old or younger.

Geography of crime

 
Police officers arresting a man in Chicago, 2004

Crime rates vary in the United States depending on the type of community.[80] Within metropolitan statistical areas, both violent and property crime rates are higher than the national average; in cities located outside metropolitan areas, violent crime was lower than the national average, while property crime was higher.[80] For rural areas, both property and violent crime rates were lower than the national average.[80]

Regions

For regional comparisons, the FBI divides the United States into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.[81] For 2019, the region with the lowest violent crime rate was the Northeast, with a rate of 292.4 per 100,000 residents, while the region with the highest violent crime rate was the West, with a rate of 413.5 per 100,000.[81] For 2019, the region with the lowest property crime rate was the Northeast, with a rate of 1,350.4 per 100,000 residents, while the region with the highest property crime rate was the West, with a rate of 2,411.7 per 100,000.[81]

States

See also: List of U.S. states by homicide rate and List of U.S. states and territories by violent crime rate

Crime rates vary among U.S. states.[82] In 2019, the state with the lowest violent crime rate was Maine, with a rate of 115.2 per 100,000 residents, while the state with the highest violent crime rate was Alaska, with a rate of 867.1 per 100,000.[82] However, the District of Columbia, the U.S. capital district, had a violent crime rate of 1,049.0 per 100,000 in 2019.[82] In 2019, the state with the highest property crime rate was Louisiana, with a rate of 3,162.0 per 100,000, while the state with the lowest property crime rate was Massachusetts, with a rate of 1,179.8 per 100,000.[82] However, Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, had a property crime rate of 702.7 per 100,000 in 2011.[82]

Metropolitan areas

Further information: United States cities by crime rate

Crime in metropolitan statistical areas tends to be above the national average; however, wide variance exists among and within metropolitan areas.[83] Some responding jurisdictions report very low crime rates, while others have considerably higher rates; these variations are due to many factors beyond population.[83] FBI crime statistics publications strongly caution against comparison rankings of cities, counties, metropolitan statistical areas, and other reporting units without considering factors other than simply population.[83] For 2017, the metropolitan statistical area with the highest violent crime rate was the Memphis, Tennessee, metropolitan area, with a rate of 1168.3 per 100,000 residents, while the metropolitan statistical area with the lowest violent crime rate was Bangor, Maine, metropolitan area, with a rate of 65.8.[84]

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 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.[85]

Crime in ten largest metropolitan areas (2017)[84]
Metropolitan statistical area Violent crime rate
(per 100,000)		 Property crime rate
(per 100,000)
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA MSA 367.6 2,865.7
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA 305.3 1,308.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA —[a] 2,024.6
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA 369.3 —[b]
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA 593.1 —[c]
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA 496.7 2,350.3
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL MSA 458.2 3,076.4
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA 332.9 1,335.6
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA 428.7 2,055.6
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA 273.4 1,745.4

Number and growth of criminal laws

There are conflicting opinions on the number of federal crimes,[86][87] but many have argued that there has been explosive growth and it has become overwhelming.[88][89][90] In 1982, the U.S. Justice Department could not come up with a number, but estimated 3,000 crimes in the United States Code.[86][87][91] In 1998, the American Bar Association (ABA) said that it was likely much higher than 3,000, but didn't give a specific estimate.[86][87] In 2008, the Heritage Foundation published a report that put the number at a minimum of 4,450.[87] When staff for a task force of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee asked the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to update its 2008 calculation of criminal offenses in the United States Code in 2013, the CRS responded that they lack the staffing and resources to accomplish the task.[92]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "The FBI determined that the agency's data were overreported for some parts of the metro area."[84] And some agency(s) "submitted rape data classified according to the legacy UCR definition."[84]
  2. ^ "The FBI determined that the agency's data were overreported for some parts of the metro area."[84]
  3. ^ "The FBI determined that the agency's data were underreported for some parts of the metro area."[84]

References

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Further reading

  • Patrick Sharkey (2018). Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence. ISBN 978-0393609608.
  • Webster, DW & Vernick, JS (2013). Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis. ISBN 978-1421411101

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crime in the United States.
  • 15 Most Wanted by U.S. Marshals
  • Surviving Crime
  • Latest Crime Stats Released (FBI)
  • New York State's 100 Most Wanted Fugitives
  • All Most Wanted – official website of the Los Angeles Police Department
  • Nationmaster – Worldwide statistics
  • Open data on US violent crime
  • Top 10 cities in USA with lowest recorded crime rates
  • U. S. Crime and Imprisonment Statistics Total and by State from 1960 – Current

May 11, 2023
crime, united, states, crime, been, recorded, united, states, since, founding, crime, rates, have, varied, over, time, with, sharp, rise, after, 1900, reaching, broad, bulging, peak, between, 1970s, early, 1990s, after, 1992, crime, rates, began, fall, year, y. Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding Crime rates have varied over time with a sharp rise after 1900 and reaching a broad bulging peak between the 1970s and early 1990s After 1992 crime rates began to fall year by year and have since declined significantly This trend lasted until 2015 when crime rates began to rise slightly This reversed in 2018 and 2019 but violent crime increased significantly again in 2020 1 2 Homicide rate in the U S continues to be high with four major U S cities ranked among the 50 cities with the highest homicide rate in the world in 2019 Despite the increase in violent crime particularly murders between 2020 and 2021 the quantity of overall crime is still far below the peak of crime seen in the United States during the late 1980s and early 1990s as other crimes such as rape property crime and robbery continued to decline 3 4 The aggregate cost of crime in the United States remains high with an estimated value of 4 9 trillion reported in 2021 5 United StatesCrime rates 2020 Violent crimesHomicide6 5Rape38 4Robbery73 9Aggravated assault279 7Total violent crime398 5Property crimesBurglary314 2Larceny theft1 398Motor vehicle theft246Total property crime1 958 2Notes Number of reported crimes per 100 000 population Estimated total population 329 500 000 In 2013 the FBI modified the definition of rape Source Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data ExplorerStatistics on specific crimes are indexed in the annual Uniform Crime Reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and by annual National Crime Victimization Surveys by the Bureau of Justice Statistics In addition to the primary Uniform Crime Report known as Crime in the United States the FBI publishes annual reports on the status of law enforcement in the United States The report s definitions of specific crimes are considered standard by many American law enforcement agencies According to the FBI index crime in the United States includes violent crime and property crime Violent crime consists of five criminal offenses murder and non negligent manslaughter rape robbery aggravated assault and gang violence property crime consists of burglary larceny motor vehicle theft and arson The basic aspect of a crime considers the offender the victim type of crime severity and level and location These are the basic questions asked by law enforcement when first investigating any situation This information is formatted into a government record by a police arrest report also known as an incident report These forms lay out all the information needed to put the crime in the system and it provides a strong outline for further law enforcement agents to review Society has a strong misconception about crime rates due to media aspects heightening their fear factor 6 The system s crime data fluctuates by crime depending on certain influencing social factors such as economics the dark figure of crime population and geography 6 Contents 1 Crime over time 1 1 Arrests 2 Arrested offenders by gender 3 Arrested offenders by age 4 Influences on crime 4 1 Offender patterns and behavior 4 2 Crime type and severity 5 Crime victimology 6 Incarceration 7 International comparison 7 1 Violent crime 7 1 1 Homicide 7 1 2 Gun violence 7 2 Property crime 7 3 Crimes against children 7 3 1 Human trafficking 7 3 1 1 Types of human sex trafficking 8 Geography of crime 8 1 Regions 8 2 States 8 3 Metropolitan areas 9 Number and growth of criminal laws 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External linksCrime over time Edit Property crime rates in the United States per 100 000 population beginning in 1960 Source Bureau of Justice Statistics In the long term violent crime in the United States has been in decline since colonial times The homicide rate has been estimated to be over 30 per 100 000 people in 1700 dropping to under 20 by 1800 and to under 10 by 1900 7 After World War II crime rates increased in the United States peaking from the 1970s to the early 1990s Violent crime nearly quadrupled between 1960 and its peak in 1991 Property crime more than doubled over the same period Since the 1990s however contrary to common misconception 8 crime in the United States has declined steadily and has significantly declined by the late 1990s and also in the early 2000s Several theories have been proposed to explain this decline The lead crime hypothesis 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 9 The number of police officers hired and employed to various police forces increased considerably in the 1990s 10 On September 16 1994 President Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law Under the act over 30 billion in federal aid was spent over a six year period to improve state and local law enforcement prisons and crime prevention programs Proponents of the law including the President touted it as a lead contributor to the sharp drop in crime which occurred throughout the 1990s while critics have dismissed it as an unprecedented federal boondoggle 11 Total incarceration in the United States by year The prison population has rapidly increased since the mid 1970s 10 Starting in the mid 1980s the crack cocaine market grew rapidly before declining again a decade later Some authors have pointed towards the link between violent crimes and crack use 10 Legalized abortion reduced the number of children born to mothers in difficult circumstances and difficult childhood makes children more likely to become criminals 12 The changing demographics of an aging population has been cited for the drop in overall crime 13 Rising income 14 The introduction of the data driven policing practice CompStat significantly reduced crimes in cities that adopted it 14 The quality and extent of use of security technology both increased around the time of the crime decline after which the rate of car theft declined this may have caused rates of other crimes to decline as well 15 Increased rates of immigration to the United States 16 17 Violent crime rates per 100 000 in the United States 1960 2018 18 19 Year Violent crime Murder and non negligentmanslaughter Rape Robbery Aggravatedassault1960 160 9 5 1 9 6 60 1 86 11961 158 1 4 8 9 4 58 3 85 71962 162 3 4 6 9 4 59 7 88 61963 168 2 4 6 9 4 61 8 92 41964 190 6 4 9 11 2 68 2 106 21965 200 2 5 1 12 1 71 7 111 31966 220 0 5 6 13 2 80 8 120 31967 253 2 6 2 14 0 102 8 130 21968 298 4 6 9 15 9 131 8 143 81969 328 7 7 3 18 5 148 4 154 51970 363 5 7 9 18 7 172 1 164 81971 396 0 8 6 20 5 188 0 178 81972 401 0 9 0 22 5 180 7 188 81973 417 4 9 4 24 5 183 1 200 51974 461 1 9 8 26 2 209 3 215 81975 487 8 9 6 26 3 220 8 231 11976 467 8 8 7 26 6 199 3 233 21977 475 9 8 8 29 4 190 7 247 01978 497 8 9 0 31 0 195 8 262 11979 548 9 9 8 34 7 218 4 286 01980 596 6 10 2 36 8 251 1 298 51981 594 3 9 8 36 0 258 4 289 31982 570 8 9 1 34 0 238 8 289 01983 537 7 8 3 33 8 216 7 279 41984 539 9 7 9 35 7 205 7 290 61985 556 6 8 0 36 8 209 3 304 01986 620 1 8 6 38 1 226 0 347 41987 612 5 8 3 37 6 213 7 352 91988 640 6 8 5 37 8 222 1 372 21989 666 9 8 7 38 3 234 3 385 61990 729 6 9 4 41 1 256 3 422 91991 758 2 9 8 42 3 272 7 433 41992 757 7 9 3 42 8 263 7 441 91993 747 1 9 5 41 1 256 0 440 51994 713 6 9 0 39 3 237 8 427 61995 684 5 8 2 37 1 220 9 418 31996 636 6 7 4 36 3 201 9 391 01997 611 0 6 8 35 9 186 2 382 11998 567 6 6 3 34 5 165 5 361 41999 523 0 5 7 32 8 150 1 334 32000 506 5 5 5 32 0 145 0 324 02001 504 5 5 6 31 8 148 5 318 62002 494 4 5 6 33 1 146 1 309 52003 475 8 5 7 32 3 142 5 295 42004 463 2 5 5 32 4 136 7 288 62005 469 0 5 6 31 8 140 8 290 82006 473 6 5 8 31 6 150 0 292 02007 471 8 5 7 30 6 148 3 287 22008 458 6 5 4 29 8 145 9 277 52009 431 9 5 0 29 1 133 1 264 72010 404 5 4 8 27 7 119 3 252 82011 387 1 4 7 27 0 113 9 241 52012 387 8 4 7 27 1 113 1 242 82013 369 1 4 5 25 9 109 0 229 62014 361 6 4 4 26 6 101 3 229 22015 373 7 4 9 28 4 102 2 238 12016 386 6 5 4 30 0 102 9 248 32017 383 8 5 3 30 7 98 6 249 22018 368 9 5 0 30 9 86 2 246 8Property crime rates per 100 000 in the United States 1960 2018 18 19 Year Property crime Burglary Larceny Motor vehicle theft1960 1 726 31961 1 747 91963 2 0121965 2 2491967 2 7361969 3 3511971 3 7691973 3 7371975 4 8111977 4 6021979 5 0171981 5 2641983 4 6371985 4 6501987 4 9401989 5 0781991 5 1401992 4 903 7 1 168 4 3 103 6 631 61993 4 740 0 1 099 7 3 033 9 606 31994 4 660 2 1 042 1 3 026 9 591 31995 4 590 5 987 0 3 043 2 560 31996 4 451 0 945 0 2 980 3 525 71997 4 316 3 918 8 2 891 8 505 71998 h 4 052 5 863 2 2 729 5 459 91999 3 743 6 770 4 2 550 7 422 52000 3 618 3 728 8 2 477 3 412 22001 3 658 1 741 8 2 485 7 430 52002 3 630 6 747 0 2 450 7 432 92003 3 591 2 741 0 2 416 5 433 72004 3 514 1 730 3 2 362 3 421 52005 3 431 5 726 9 2 287 8 416 82006 3 346 6 733 1 2 213 2 400 22007 3 276 4 726 1 2 185 4 364 92008 3 214 6 733 0 2 166 1 315 42009 3 041 3 717 7 2 064 5 259 22010 2 945 9 701 0 2 005 8 239 12011 2 905 4 701 3 1 974 1 230 02012 2 868 0 672 2 1 965 4 230 42013 2 733 6 610 5 1 901 9 221 32014 2 574 1 537 2 1 821 5 215 42015 2 500 5 494 7 1 783 6 222 22016 2 451 6 468 9 1 745 4 237 32017 2 362 9 429 7 1 695 5 237 72018 2 199 5 376 0 1 594 6 228 9Arrests Edit A man being arrested for public intoxication in Washington D C 1974 Each state has a set of statutes enforceable within its own borders A state has no jurisdiction outside of its borders even though still in the United States It must request extradition from the state in which the suspect has fled In 2014 there were 186 873 misdemeanor suspects outside specific states jurisdiction against whom no extradition would be sought Philadelphia has about 20 000 of these since it is near a border with four other states Extradition is estimated to cost a few hundred dollars per case 20 Analysis of arrest data from California indicates that the most common causes of felony arrest are for violent offenses such as robbery and assault property offenses such as burglary and auto theft and drug offenses For misdemeanors the most common causes of arrest were traffic offenses most notably impaired driving drug offenses and failure to appear in court Other common causes of misdemeanor arrest included assault and battery and minor property offenses such as petty theft 21 Arrested offenders by gender Edit Jane Toppan Under questioning she stated she derived a sexual thrill from patients being near death According to the Office Of Justice Programs crimes like burglary and vandalism have gone down during the past few years for men and crimes like murder and robbery have gone down for women For both genders most of the crimes committed are done by people ages 25 and above Arrested Offenders by Gender Male 2016 2020 Murder Assault Robbery Arson Burglary Vandalism2020 10 900 293 230 57 590 7 720 120 740 133 2602019 9 600 295 040 62 930 7 100 136 420 138 6202018 10 520 302 600 74 650 7 280 143 570 138 1202017 10 670 298 250 80 250 7 280 161 790 145 9202016 10 370 294 850 82 140 7 680 168 880 152 900Arrested Offenders by gender Female 2016 2020 Murder Assault Robbery Arson Burglary Vandalism2020 1 540 87 960 10 310 2 060 28 610 40 5102019 1 460 90 230 11 620 1 960 35 170 41 8802018 1 450 93 200 13 480 2 110 35 040 41 7102017 1 530 90 670 13 800 1 830 37 480 42 4302016 1 420 89 120 13 620 2 130 38 440 43 050Arrested offenders by age Edit ferrotype of Henry McCarty alias William H Bonney better known as Billy the Kid In 2020 out of the 7 632 470 crimes documented that year 5 721 190 of them were committed by someone who was at least 25 years of age 22 4 225 140 of them being committed by men and 1 496 050 being committed by women It isn t some random spike seen with adults either The number of crimes being committed by each age group increases with every year Arrested Offenders by Age Both Genders 0 17 18 20 21 24 25 and Older2020 424 300 592 260 894 730 5 721 1902019 684 230 804 720 1 199 730 7 396 5302018 721 630 896 240 1 314 940 7 378 1502017 801 310 1 015 420 1 433 060 7 305 2002016 855 460 1 080 580 1 546 400 7 179 810Influences on crime Edit A wanted poster issued by the DEA In 2020 75 of all the crimes listed were committed by adults ages 25 while only 16 were committed by juveniles 17 and younger In 2019 94 of crimes were committed by adults The data shows a gradual increase in crimes as individuals age With only a fraction of crimes being committed by someone who is under 18 this demonstrates how over time children will begin to commit more crimes due to conditioning from their environment and the influence of other adults Children being exposed to violence at a young age is a learned behavior that ends increasing their chances of committing violent acts when they re older by as much as 40 23 Offender patterns and behavior Edit Research suggests that being socially isolated along with parents not setting boundaries while not teaching their kids about the risk and consequences of certain actions can cause them to commit violent acts as they get older A lot of the times these types of situations are most common in highly populated cities like Stockton and Oakland causing the cycle to repeat 24 Crime type and severity Edit People are more likely to fear and be less sympathetic toward offenders with a violent criminal history 25 Violent criminal history includes any offense of the severity of a violent felony such as rape homicide aggravated assault and robbery 26 People associate these criminals with a negative connotation especially in comparison to those with a non violent non sexual criminal history offenses with a misdemeanor severity level 25 Crime victimology Edit The U S accounts for 97 of gun related child deaths among similar countries despite making up only 46 of this group s overall population 27 Homicide victimization rate for whites and blacks according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics 28 In 2011 surveys indicated more than 5 8 million violent victimizations and 17 1 million property victimizations took place in the United States according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics each property victimization corresponded to one household while violent victimizations is the number of victims of a violent crime 29 Patterns are found within the victimology of crime in the United States Overall people with lower incomes those younger than 25 and non whites were more likely to report being the victim of crime 29 Income gender 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 29 In terms of gender the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS published in 2019 that the percentage of violent victimizations reported to police was higher for females 46 than for males 36 This difference can largely be attributed to reporting of simple assaults as the percentages of violent victimizations reported to police excluding simple assault were similar for females 47 and males 46 The victim to population ratio of 1 0 for both males and females shows that the percentage of violent incidents involving male 49 or female 51 victims was equal to males 49 or females 51 share of the population 30 In regards to rape the National Incident Based Reporting System NIBRS indicates females are disproportionately more affected than males According to the data collected from 2010 to 2020 women make 89 of victims of rape while men make 11 Perpetrators are 93 men 31 Concerning age those younger than twenty five were more likely to fall victim to crime especially violent crime 32 The chances of being victimized by violent crime decreased far more substantially with age than the chances of becoming the victim of property crime 32 For example 3 03 of crimes committed against a young person were theft while 20 of crimes committed against an elderly person were theft 32 Bias motivation reports showed that of the 7 254 hate crimes reported in 2011 47 7 3 465 were motivated by race with 72 2 494 of race motivated incidents being anti black 33 In addition 20 8 1 508 of hate crimes were motivated by sexual orientation with 57 8 871 of orientation motivated incidents being anti male homosexual 33 The third largest motivation factor for hate crime was religion representing 18 2 1 318 incidents with 62 2 820 of religion motivated incidents being anti Jewish 33 As of 2007 violent crime against homeless people is increasing 34 The likelihood of falling victim to crime relates to both demographic and geographic characteristics 35 In 2010 according to the UNODC 67 5 of all homicides in the United States were perpetrated using a firearm 36 The costliest crime in terms of total financial impact on all of its victims and the most underreported crime is rape in the United States 37 38 Incarceration EditMain article Incarceration in the United States A map of U S states by incarceration rate under state prison jurisdiction but excluding jail and federal prison inmates per 100 000 population As of 2001 the lifetime likelihood of ever going to prison for various demographic groups by percentages Felony Sentences in State Courts study by the United States Department of Justice The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world which includes pre trial detainees and sentenced prisoners 39 As of 2009 2 3 million people were incarcerated in the United States including federal and state prisons and local jails creating an incarceration rate of 793 persons per 100 000 of national population 39 During 2011 1 6 million people were incarcerated under the jurisdiction of federal and state authorities 40 At the end of 2011 492 persons per 100 000 U S residents were incarcerated in federal and state prisons 40 Of the 1 6 million state and federal prisoners nearly 1 4 million people were under state jurisdiction while 215 000 were under federal jurisdiction 40 Demographically nearly 1 5 million prisoners were male and 115 000 were female while 581 000 prisoners were black 516 000 were white and 350 000 were Hispanic 40 Among the 1 35 million sentenced state prisoners in 2011 725 000 people were incarcerated for violent crimes 250 000 were incarcerated for property crimes 237 000 people were incarcerated for drug crimes and 150 000 were incarcerated for other offenses 40 Of the 200 000 sentenced federal prisoners in 2011 95 000 were incarcerated for drug crimes 69 000 were incarcerated for public order offenses 15 000 were incarcerated for violent crimes and 11 000 were incarcerated for property crimes 40 International comparison EditThe manner in which the United States crime rate compares to other countries of similar wealth and development depends on the nature of the crime used in the comparison 41 Overall crime statistic comparisons are difficult to conduct as the definition and categorization of crimes varies across countries Thus an agency in a foreign country may include crimes in its annual reports which the U S omits and vice versa However some countries such as Canada have similar definitions of what constitutes a violent crime and nearly all countries had the same definition of the characteristics that constitutes a homicide citation needed Overall the total crime rate of the United States is higher than developed countries specifically Europe and East Asia with South American countries and Russia being the exceptions 42 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 as is the prison population The Hip Sing Association building in Seattle Washington The difference in homicide rate between the U S and other high income countries has widened in recent years especially since the 30 rise in 2020 was not replicated elsewhere and is also above many developing countries such as China India and Turkey citation needed In the European Union homicides fell 32 between 2008 2019 to 3 875 43 while rising by 4 901 in the U S in 2020 alone 44 leaving the U S with a homicide rate 7x higher In reputable estimates of crime across the globe the U S generally ranks slightly below the middle roughly 70th lowest or 100th highest 45 46 Violent crime Edit See also Violent crime in the United States Gun violence in the United States List of U S states by homicide rate and List of countries by intentional homicide rate by decade The reported U S violent crime rate includes murder rape and sexual assault robbery and assault 47 whereas the Canadian violent crime rate includes all categories of assault including Assault level 1 i e assault not using a weapon and not resulting in serious bodily harm 48 49 A Canadian government study concluded that direct comparison of the two countries violent crime totals or rates was inappropriate 50 France does not count minor violence such as punching or slapping as assault whereas Austria Germany Finland and the United Kingdom do count such occurrences 51 The United Kingdom similarly has different definitions of what constitutes violent crime compared to the United States making a direct comparison of the overall figure flawed The FBI s Uniform Crime Reports defines a violent crime as one of four specific offenses murder and non negligent manslaughter forcible rape robbery and aggravated assault The British Home Office by contrast has a different definition of violent crime including all crimes against the person including simple assaults all robberies and all sexual offenses as opposed to the FBI which only counts aggravated assaults and forcible rapes 52 Crime rates are necessarily altered by averaging neighborhood higher or lower local rates over a larger population which includes the entire city Having small pockets of dense crime may increase a city s average crime rate It is estimated that violent crime accounts for as much as 2 2 trillion by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation accounting for about 85 of the total cost of crime in the United States 53 Police recorded violent crime rates per 100 000 population 54 55 56 57 Country Homicide Rape Sexual assault Robbery AssaultAustralia 1 2 80 02012 55 18 327Germany 0 8 9 42010 56 92010 60 630England Wales 1 1 28 82010 82 12010 137 730Scotland 1 6 17 02009 124 62009 48 1487United States 5 0 44 42018 UCR 58 270 0 2018 NCVS 59 133 241Sweden 1 0 63 52010 183 02010 103 927 Australian statistics record only sexual assault and do not have separate statistics for rape only Sexual assault is defined to include rape attempted rape aggravated sexual assault assault with a weapon indecent assault penetration by objects forced sexual activity that did not end in penetration and attempts to force a person into sexual activity but excludes unwanted sexual touching 60 UCR rape statistics do NOT include sexual assault while the NCVS does furthermore NCVS define sexual assault to include as well sexual touching with without force and verbal threats of rape or sexual assault as well as rape attempted rape and sexual assault that isn t rape 56 57 Homicide Edit Intentional homicide rate per 100 000 residents by state including District of Columbia 2019 61 Homicide rate by county 2014 2020 average rate per year per 100 000 people See also List of countries by intentional homicide rate and List of U S states and territories by intentional homicide rate The historical homicide rate in the U S from 1900 2001 According to a 2013 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC between 2005 and 2012 update the average homicide rate in the U S was 4 9 per 100 000 inhabitants compared to the average rate globally which was 6 2 However the U S had much higher murder rates compared to four other selected developed countries which all had average homicide rates of 0 8 per 100 000 42 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 and Italy 0 9 62 48 In 2018 the US murder rate was 5 0 per 100 000 for a total of 15 498 murders 63 Country Singapore Iceland Armenia United States Moldova South Sudan PanamaHomicide rate per hundred thousand international methodology 42 0 2 0 5 1 7 5 1 5 2 12 53 1In 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 64 According to the FBI When the race of the offender was known 53 0 percent were black 44 7 percent were white and 2 3 percent were of other races The race was unknown for 4 132 offenders Based on Expanded Homicide Data Table 3 Of the offenders for whom gender was known 88 2 percent were male 65 According to the U S Bureau of Justice Statistics from 1980 to 2008 84 percent of white homicide victims were killed by white offenders and 93 percent of black homicide victims were killed by black offenders 28 Gun violence Edit See also Gun violence in the United States Gun homicide rate vs gun ownership rate in developed countries Civilian guns per capita by country Small Arms Survey 2017 66 The United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership per capita 66 67 68 According to the CDC between 1999 and 2014 there were 185 718 homicides from use of a firearm and 291 571 suicides using a firearm 69 The U S gun homicide rate in 2019 was 18 times the average rate in other developed countries 70 Despite a significant increase in the sales of firearms since 1994 the US has seen a drop in the annual rate of homicides using a firearm from 7 0 per 100 000 population in 1993 to 3 6 per 100 000 in 2013 71 In the ten years between 2000 and 2009 the ATF reported 37 372 713 clearances for purchase however in the four years between 2010 and 2013 the ATF reported 31 421 528 clearances 72 Property crime Edit Burglary rates select industrialized countries U S Bureau of Justice Statistics 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 burglary 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 For the first nine years of the study period the same surveys of the public showed only Australia with rates higher than the United States The authors noted various problems in doing the comparisons including infrequent data points The United States performed five surveys from 1995 to 1999 when its rate dipped below Canada s while Canada ran a single telephone survey during that period for comparison 41 Crimes against children Edit Further information Child abuse U S statistics and Child sexual abuse United States and Europe Violence against children from birth to adolescence is considered a global phenomenon that takes many forms physical sexual emotional and occurs in many settings including the home school community care and justice systems and over the Internet 73 According to a 2001 report from UNICEF the United States has the highest rate of deaths from child abuse and neglect of any industrialized 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 1 per 100 000 children New York has 2 5 Oregon 1 5 and New Hampshire 0 4 74 A 2018 report from the Congressional Research Service stated at the national level violent crime and homicide rates have increased each year from 2014 to 2016 75 In 2016 data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System NCANDS revealed that approximately 1 750 children died from either abuse or neglect further this is a continuing trend with an increasing 7 4 of crimes against children from 2012 to 2016 and these statistics can be compared to a rate of 2 36 children per 100 000 children in the United States general population 76 In addition 44 2 of these 2016 statistics are specific to physical abuse towards a child 76 A 2016 report from the Child Welfare Information Gateway also showed that parents account for 78 of violence against children in the United States citation needed Human trafficking Edit Main article Human trafficking in the United States Human trafficking is categorized into the following three groups 1 sex trafficking 2 sex and labor trafficking and 3 labor trafficking In addition the rate of domestic minor sex trafficking has exponentially increased over the years Sex trafficking of children also referred to as commercial sexual exploitation of children is categorized by the following forms pornography prostitution child sex tourism and child marriage Profiles of traffickers and types of trafficking differ in the way victims are abducted how they are treated and the reason for the abduction According to a 2017 report from the National Human Trafficking Hotline NHTH out of 10 615 reported survivors of sex trafficking 2 762 of those survivors were minors 77 The U S Department of Justice defines Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children CSEC as a range of crimes and activities involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of a child for the financial benefit of any person or in exchange for anything of value including monetary and non monetary benefits given or received by any person These crimes against children which may occur at any time or place rob them of their childhood and are extremely detrimental to their emotional and psychological development 78 Types of human sex trafficking Edit In pimp controlled trafficking the pimp typically is the only trafficker involved who has full physical psychological and emotional control over the victim In gang controlled trafficking a large group of people has power over the victim forcing the victim to take part in illegal or violent tasks for the purpose of obtaining drugs Another form is called Familial trafficking which differs the most from the two mentioned above because the victim is typically not abducted Instead the victim is forced into being sexually exploited by family members in exchange for something of monetary value whether that s paying back debt or obtaining drugs or money This type of sexual exploitation tends to be the most difficult to detect yet remains as the most prevalent form of human sex trafficking within the United States 78 In 2009 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported that the average age when children first fall victim to CSEC is between ages 12 and 14 However this age has become increasingly younger due to exploiters fear of contracting HIV or AIDS from older victims 78 In 2018 the Office of Public Affairs within the Department of Justice released a report from operation Broken Heart conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children ICAC task forces stating that more than 2 300 suspected online child sex offenders were arrested on the following allegations 79 produce distribute receive and possess child pornography engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes engage in the sex trafficking of children travel across state lines or to foreign countries and sexually abuse childrenIn addition a 2011 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics described the characteristics of suspected human trafficking incidents identifying roughly 95 of victims as female and over half as 17 years old or younger Geography of crime Edit Police officers arresting a man in Chicago 2004 Crime rates vary in the United States depending on the type of community 80 Within metropolitan statistical areas both violent and property crime rates are higher than the national average in cities located outside metropolitan areas violent crime was lower than the national average while property crime was higher 80 For rural areas both property and violent crime rates were lower than the national average 80 Regions Edit For regional comparisons the FBI divides the United States into four regions Northeast Midwest South and West 81 For 2019 the region with the lowest violent crime rate was the Northeast with a rate of 292 4 per 100 000 residents while the region with the highest violent crime rate was the West with a rate of 413 5 per 100 000 81 For 2019 the region with the lowest property crime rate was the Northeast with a rate of 1 350 4 per 100 000 residents while the region with the highest property crime rate was the West with a rate of 2 411 7 per 100 000 81 States Edit See also List of U S states by homicide rate and List of U S states and territories by violent crime rate Crime rates vary among U S states 82 In 2019 the state with the lowest violent crime rate was Maine with a rate of 115 2 per 100 000 residents while the state with the highest violent crime rate was Alaska with a rate of 867 1 per 100 000 82 However the District of Columbia the U S capital district had a violent crime rate of 1 049 0 per 100 000 in 2019 82 In 2019 the state with the highest property crime rate was Louisiana with a rate of 3 162 0 per 100 000 while the state with the lowest property crime rate was Massachusetts with a rate of 1 179 8 per 100 000 82 However Puerto Rico an unincorporated territory of the United States had a property crime rate of 702 7 per 100 000 in 2011 82 Metropolitan areas Edit Further information United States cities by crime rate Alcatraz Island 1895 Crime in metropolitan statistical areas tends to be above the national average however wide variance exists among and within metropolitan areas 83 Some responding jurisdictions report very low crime rates while others have considerably higher rates these variations are due to many factors beyond population 83 FBI crime statistics publications strongly caution against comparison rankings of cities counties metropolitan statistical areas and other reporting units without considering factors other than simply population 83 For 2017 update the metropolitan statistical area with the highest violent crime rate was the Memphis Tennessee metropolitan area with a rate of 1168 3 per 100 000 residents while the metropolitan statistical area with the lowest violent crime rate was Bangor Maine metropolitan area with a rate of 65 8 84 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 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 85 Crime in ten largest metropolitan areas 2017 84 Metropolitan statistical area Violent crime rate per 100 000 Property crime rate per 100 000 Atlanta Sandy Springs Roswell GA MSA 367 6 2 865 7Boston Cambridge Newton MA NH MSA 305 3 1 308 5Chicago Naperville Elgin IL IN WI MSA a 2 024 6Dallas Fort Worth Arlington TX MSA 369 3 b Houston The Woodlands Sugar Land TX MSA 593 1 c Los Angeles Long Beach Anaheim CA MSA 496 7 2 350 3Miami Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach FL MSA 458 2 3 076 4New York Newark Jersey City NY NJ PA MSA 332 9 1 335 6Philadelphia Camden Wilmington PA NJ DE MD MSA 428 7 2 055 6Washington Arlington Alexandria DC VA MD WV MSA 273 4 1 745 4Number and growth of criminal laws EditThere are conflicting opinions on the number of federal crimes 86 87 but many have argued that there has been explosive growth and it has become overwhelming 88 89 90 In 1982 the U S Justice Department could not come up with a number but estimated 3 000 crimes in the United States Code 86 87 91 In 1998 the American Bar Association ABA said that it was likely much higher than 3 000 but didn t give a specific estimate 86 87 In 2008 the Heritage Foundation published a report that put the number at a minimum of 4 450 87 When staff for a task force of the U S House Judiciary Committee asked the Congressional Research Service CRS to update its 2008 calculation of criminal offenses in the United States Code in 2013 the CRS responded that they lack the staffing and resources to accomplish the task 92 See also EditGangs in the United States Incarceration in the United States Mass shootings in the United States Race and crime in the United States National Crime Information Center Interstate Identification Index United States cities by crime rate List of U S states and territories by violent crime rate List of U S states and territories by intentional homicide rate Strict liability criminal United States Contempt of court United States List of criminal enterprises gangs and syndicates United States Illegal immigration to the United States and crime Terrorism in the United StatesNotes Edit The FBI determined that the agency s data were overreported for some parts of the metro area 84 And some agency s submitted rape data classified according to the legacy UCR definition 84 The FBI determined that the agency s data were overreported for some parts of the metro area 84 The FBI determined that the agency s data were underreported for some parts of the metro area 84 References Edit Criminal Victimization 2019 PDF U S Department of Justice The US saw significant crime rise across major cities 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s Federal Criminal Laws The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on August 12 2017 Retrieved August 3 2017 a b c d Baker John S June 16 2008 Revisiting the Explosive Growth of Federal Crimes The Heritage Foundation archived from the original on June 4 2013 retrieved June 15 2013 Fields Gary Emshwiller John R July 23 2011 As Criminal Laws Proliferate More Are Ensnared The Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on September 4 2017 Retrieved August 3 2017 Neil Martha June 14 2013 ABA leader calls for streamlining of overwhelming and often ineffective federal criminal law ABA Journal Archived from the original on October 22 2014 Retrieved June 15 2013 Savage David G January 1 1999 Rehnquist Urges Shorter List of Federal Crimes Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved June 15 2013 Weiss Debra Cassens July 25 2011 Federal Laws Multiply Jail Time for Misappropriating Smokey Bear Image ABA Journal Archived from the original on March 27 2013 Retrieved June 15 2013 26 million recorded crimes on average a year in the US Ruger Todd June 14 2013 Way Too Many Criminal Laws Lawyers Tell Congress Blog of Legal Times ALM archived from the original on June 18 2013 retrieved June 15 2013Further reading EditPatrick Sharkey 2018 Uneasy Peace The Great Crime Decline the Renewal of City Life and the Next War on Violence ISBN 978 0393609608 Webster DW amp Vernick JS 2013 Reducing Gun Violence in America Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis ISBN 978 1421411101External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crime in the United States 15 Most Wanted by U S Marshals The FBI s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Surviving Crime Latest Crime Stats Released FBI DEA Fugitives Major International Fugitives Metropolitan Police Department Most Wanted New York State s 100 Most Wanted Fugitives All Most Wanted official website of the Los Angeles Police Department Nationmaster Worldwide statistics Open data on US violent crime Top 10 cities in USA with lowest recorded crime rates U S Crime and Imprisonment Statistics Total and by State from 1960 Current Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Crime in the United States amp oldid 1153398292, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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