Crime In America
Crime in the United States is characterized by relatively high levels of gun violence and homicide, compared to other developed countries although this is explained by the fact that criminals in America are more likely to use firearms. Crime statistics are published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Uniform Crime Reports which represents crimes reported to the police. The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducts the annual National Crime Victimization Survey which captures crimes not reported to the police.
The country's overall crime rate is reflected through Index crimes, which include homicide, forcible rape, robbery, assault, classified as violent crimes. Property crimes include burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Statistics for index offenses are generally available for the country as a whole, all fifty states and all communities within the United States with 10,000 or more residents. The crime rate is measured by the number of crimes being reported per 100,000 people. While the crime rate had risen sharply in the late 1960s and early 1970s, bringing it to a constant all-time high during much of the 1970s and 1980s, it has drastically declined ever since 1991. In 2004 America's crime rate is roughly the same as in 1970, with the homicide rate being at its lowest level since 1965. Overall the national crime rate was 3982 crimes per 100,000 residents, down 17.6% from 4852 crimes per 100,000 residents thirty years earlier in 1974. The severity of crime in international comparison depends on the nature of the crimes considered in such comparison. For example, while the homicide and violent crime rates of the United States were much higher than those of Canada, property crime rates in the US were considerably lower. The overall crime rate in the United States is similar to that of other highly developed countries such as Canada. Additionally there tend to be great regional differences within the US with New England having a violent crime and homicide rate comparable to that of most other developed nations, while southern states were among the most violent.
The likelihood of committing and falling victim to crime also depends on several demographic characteristics, as well as location of the population. Overall minorities, the young, and those in financially less favorable positions were more likely to be victimized by, as well as commit crimes. Crime in the US is also concentrated to certain areas. It is quite common for crime in American cities to be highly concentrated in a few, often economically disadvantaged areas. For example, the responding communities in San Mateo County, California had a population of approximately 624,000 and 17 homicides in 2001. Six of these 17 homicides took place in relatively poor, largely African and Hispanic American East Palo Alto, which had a population of roughly 30,000. So, while East Palo Alto only accounted for 4.8% of the population, 35.3% of all homicides took place there. Thus it becomes very clear that the distribution of crime among different demographical groups and locales varies significantly.
Characteristics of Criminal Offenders
A subsequent United States Department of Justice report which surveyed homicide statistics between 1974 and 2004 stated that of the crimes surveyed, 52.1% of the offenders were Black, 45.9% were White, and 2% were Other Races. Of the victims in those same crimes, 51% were White, 46.9% were Black, and 2.1% were Other Races. The report further noted that, "most murders are intraracial", with 86% of White murders committed by Whites, and 94% of Black murders committed by Blacks. It should be noted that the document does not provide any details concerning what races or ethnicities are included in the designations "White", "Black", or "Other Races".
A February 1997 report on rape and sexual-based crime published by the United States Department of Justice stated that of the crimes surveyed, 56% of arrestees were White, 42% were Black, and 2% were of other races; though it should be noted that "Hispanic" was not recognized as a racial category, with Hispanics predominantly being grouped together with Non-Hispanic Whites. The report additionally noted that "[v]ictims of rape were about evenly divided between whites and blacks; in about 88% of forcible rapes, the victim and offender were of the same race." In 1998, nearly one out of three Black men between the ages of 20-29 were in prison or jail, on probation or parole on any given day. Approximately 70% of prisoners in the United States are non-Whites.
Compared with other countries, the United States has among the highest incarceration rates in the world. As of 2006, a record 7 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total 2.2 million were incarcerated. The People's Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million. The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
In terms of federal prison, 57 % of those incarcerated were sentenced for drug offenses. Currently, considering local jails as well, almost a million of those incarcerated are in prison for non-violent crime. In 2002, roughly 93.2 % of prisoners were male. About 10.4 % of all black males in the United States between the ages of 25 and 29 were sentenced and in prison by year end, compared to 2.4 % of Hispanic males and 1.2 % of white males.
International Comparison
The manner in which America's crime rate compared to other countries of similar wealth and development depends on the nature of the crime used in the comparison. Overall crime statistic comparisons are difficult to conduct, as the definition of crimes significant enough to be published in annual reports varies across countries. Thus an agency in a foreign country may include crimes in its annual reports which the United States omits. Some countries such as Canada, however, have similar definitions of what constitutes a violent crime, and nearly all countries had the same definition of the characteristics that constitutes a homicide. Overall the total crime rate of the United States is similar to that of other highly developed countries. Reported property crime in the U.S. is actually lower than in Germany or Canada, yet the American homicide rate in the United States is substantially higher. Interestingly enough, the overall violent crime rate in the United States was roughly half that of Canada, despite its homicide rate being 189.5% higher; note from the references, however, that the U.S. violent crime rate includes only Aggravated Assault, whereas the Canadian violent crime rate includes all categories of assault, including the much-more-numerous Simple Assault (i.e., assault not using a weapon and not resulting in serious bodily harm). According to a recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, where crime figures were adjusted for international comparison, the United States had a lower overall burglary rate 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.
Despite the overall crime rate of the United States being seemingly in line with that of other industrialized countries, its homicide rate, which has declined substantially since 1991, is still among the highest in the industrialized world. Comparing just homicide rates by themselves, however, may not be representative of the overall crime rate of a country. Only the homicide rate of Northern Ireland in the early 1990s compares to that of the United States today. In 2004, there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons, compared to 1.9 in Canada and 1.0 in Germany. This means that the homicide rate in the United States was nearly three times as high as in Canada and slightly more then five times as high as in Germany. Most industrialized countries had homicide rates below the 2.5 mark. Overall the homicide rate in the United States was similar to that of some lesser developed Eastern European countries.
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