This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0007172656 Reproduction Date:
Crime in the United States has been present since colonization. Crime rates have varied over time, with a sharp rise after World War II, before peaking between the 1970s and early 1990s. Since the early 1990s, crime has declined in the United States,[1] and current crime rates are approximately the same as those of the 1960s.[2]
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.[3] 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.[2] The report's definitions of specific crimes are considered standard by many American law enforcement agencies.[4] According to the FBI, index crime in the United States includes violent crime and property crime.[5] Violent crime consists of four criminal offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault; property crime consists of burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.[5]
In the long term, violent crime in the United States has been in decline since colonial times.[6] However, during the early 20th century, crime rates in the United States were higher compared to parts of Western Europe. For example, 198 homicides were recorded in the American city of Chicago in 1916, 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, 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.[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, crime in the United States has declined steeply. Several theories have been proposed to explain this decline:
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 felony 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. The cost of extradition is estimated to cost a few hundred dollars per case.[17]
(Note: According to the legal systems of the United States, Hispanic and/or Latin American persons are generally classified as white.) For 2012, law enforcement made approximately 12,200,000 arrests nationally, down 200,000 from 2011.[18][19] Arrested offenders in the United States tend to be male,[20][21] over age 18,[22][23] and white.[24][25]
Characteristics of offenders vary from the average for specific types of crimes and specific crimes. In terms of violent crime by gender, in 2011, 80.4% of arrested persons were male and 19.6% were female.[21] Males were 88.2% of those arrested for homicide, while females were 11.8%.[21] Among those arrested for rape in 2011, males were 98.8% and females were 1.2%.[21] For property crime in 2011, 62.9% of arrested persons were male and 37.1% were female.[21]
For violent crime by race in 2011, 59.4% of those arrested were white, 38.3% were black, and 2.2% were of other races.[25] For persons arrested for homicide in 2011, 49.7% were black, 48% were white, and 2.3% were of other races.[25] For persons arrested for rape in 2011, 65% were white, 32.9% were black, and 2.1% were of other races.[25] For property crime in 2011, 68.1% of arrested persons were white, 29.5% were black, and 2.4% were of other races.[25]
In 2011, law enforcement reported 6,222 bias-motivated incidents, known as hate crimes, for which 5,731 offenders were identified.[26] Of these, 59% were white, 20.9% were black, 7.1% were of various races, 1.4% were Asian or Pacific Islanders, 0.8% were Native American, and 10.8% were of unknown race.[26]
Reporting at the annual meeting of the [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, males, 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, males were more likely to become crime victims than were females,[30] with 79% percent of all murder victims being male. Males were twice as likely to be carjacked as females.[30] In terms of income, households with a 2008 income of less than $15,000 were significantly more likely to have their homes burgled.[30]
Concerning age, those younger than twenty-five were more likely to fall victim to crime, especially violent crime.[31] The chances of being victimized by violent crime decreased far more substantially with age than the chances of becoming the victim of property crime.[31] For example, 3.03% of crimes committed against a young person were theft, while 20% of crimes committed against an elderly person were theft.[31]
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.[26] 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.[26] 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.[26]
As of 2007, [33] The CSHE contends that negative and degrading portrayals of the homeless contribute to a climate where violence takes place.
The likelihood of falling victim to crime relates to both demographic and geographic characteristics.[1] Overall, men, minorities, the young, and those in urban areas are more likely to be crime victims.[1] The likelihood of perpetrating crime also relates to demography. Also, Human Rights Watch has reported that much of the rape in prison is black against white: "Past studies have documented the prevalence of black on white sexual aggression in prison. These findings are further confirmed by Human Rights Watch's own research. Overall, our correspondence and interviews with white, black, and Hispanic inmates convince us that white inmates are disproportionately targeted for abuse. Although many whites reported being raped by white inmates, black on white abuse appears to be more common. To a much lesser extent, non-Hispanic whites also reported being victimized by Hispanic inmates."[35] Critics such as Jared Taylor contend that the media downplays such violence against whites.
In 2010, according to the UNODC, 67.5% of all homicides in the United States were perpetrated using a firearm.[36]
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world (which includes pre-trial detainees and sentenced prisoners).[38] 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.[38] During 2011, 1.6 million people were incarcerated under the jurisdiction of federal and state authorities.[39] At the end of 2011, 492 persons per 100,000 U.S. residents were incarcerated in federal and state prisons.[39] 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.[39] 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.[39]
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.[39] 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.[39]
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.[40] 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 United States omits, and vice-versa.
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 industrialized 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.
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.[54]
The reported US violent crime rate includes murder, rape and sexual assault, robbery, and assault,[55] 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).[43][44] A Canadian government study concluded that direct comparison of the 2 countries' violent crime totals or rates was "inappropriate".[56]
France and the U.S. do not count minor violence, such as punching or slapping, as assault, whereas Austria, Germany, and Finland do count such occurrences.[57]
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 lower a city's average crime rate.
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. (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).[40]
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 4.05 per 100,000 children, New York has 2.46, Oregon 1.49 and New Hampshire 0.35. [58] A UNICEF report on child wellbeing stated that the United States and the United Kingdom ranked lowest among industrial nations with respect to the wellbeing of children.[59]
Crime rates vary in the United States depending on the type of community.[60] 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.[60] For rural areas, both property and violent crime rates were lower than the national average.[60]
For regional comparisons, the FBI divides the United States into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.[61] For 2011, the region with the lowest violent crime was the Midwest, with a rate of 349.9 per 100,000 residents, while the region with the highest violent crime rate was the South, with a rate of 428.8 per 100,000.[61] For 2011, the region with the lowest property crime rate was the Northeast, with a rate of 2,121.8 per 100,000 residents, while the region with the highest property crime rate was the South, with a rate of 3,370.8 per 100,000.[61]
Crime rates vary among U.S. states.[62] In 2011, the state with the lowest violent crime rate was Maine, with a rate of 123.2 per 100,000 residents, while the state with the highest violent crime rate was Tennessee, with a rate of 608.2 per 100,000.[62] However, the District of Columbia, the U.S. capital district, had a violent crime rate of 1,202.1 per 100,000 in 2011.[62] In 2011, the state with the highest property crime rate was South Carolina, with a rate of 3,904.2 per 100,000, while the state with the lowest property crime rate was South Dakota, with a rate of 1,817.7 per 100,000.[62] However, Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, had a property crime rate of 1,395.2 per 100,000 in 2011.[62]
Louisiana's per capita homicide rate ranked 1st every year for 25 years straight. 1989-2013.
Crime in metropolitan statistical areas tends to be above the national average; however, wide variance exists among and within metropolitan areas.[63] Some responding jurisdictions report very low crime rates, while others have considerably higher rates; these variations are due to many factors beyond population.[63] 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.[63] For 2011, the metropolitan statistical area with the highest violent crime rate was the Memphis metropolitan area, with a rate of 980.4 per 100,000 residents, while the metropolitan statistical area with the lowest violent crime rate was Logan metropolitan area, with a rate of 47.7.[64][65]
There are conflicting opinions on the number of federal crimes,[67][68] but many have argued that there has been explosive growth and it has become overwhelming.[69][70][71] In 1982, the U.S. Justice Department could not come up with a number, but estimated 3,000 crimes in the United States Code.[67][68][72] In 1998, the American Bar Association (ABA) said that it was likely much higher than 3,000, but didn't give a specific estimate.[67][68] In 2008, the Heritage Foundation published a report that put the number at a minimum of 4,450.[68] 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 manpower and resources to accomplish the task.[73]