Crime Rates–United States
There are two primary sources for crime data in the United States. The first is crime reported to law enforcement agencies, processed at the state level and reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Many criminologists see this data as an index of serious crimes that are reported to police.
The problem is that the majority of crime (and approximately half of violent crimes) are not reported to law enforcement agencies. Crimes are not reported because victims see the event as a personal matter ( a fight between friends or family members) or a theft that the victim considers minor or the victim’s belief that law enforcement cannot resolve the issue (a theft where the likelihood of getting property back or resulting in the arrest of the offender is unlikely).
To deal with the crime reporting issue, the Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice under the US Department of Justice created the National Crime Survey. The National Crime Survey collects data from households and individuals (similar to the Census Bureau) to get a picture of total crime.
The latest data involving crimes reported to law enforcement agencies includes:
- http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/2009prelimsem/index.html
- http://crimeinamerica.net/2009/09/15/american-crime-rates-lower-in-2008-based-on-crimes-reported-to-police-fbi/
For the latest data from the National Crime Survey, see:
Summary:
The bottom line of the two reports is that violent and property crime are at record lows for the country and , generally speaking, have been decreasing for the last two decades. While this news is of little consequence to those living in areas where crime continues to be a problem, it is never-the-less good news for a country that suffered large increases in crime and violence for decades since the mid 1960’s.
Please note that there are additional measures focusing on fear of crime, crimes committed against students, substance abuse and many other criminological variables. Most are cited within this site and most indicate a downward trend that matches the FBI’s report and the National Crime Survey.
Please see http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/data/table_01.html for a long-range view of crime rates, especially violent crime rates.
The summation from the National Crime Survey (cited above) is as follows: “Violent and property crime rates in 2008 remain at the lowest levels recorded since 1973, the first year that such data were collected. The rate of every major violent and property crime measured by BJS fell between 1999 and 2008. The overall violent crime rate fell 41 percent and the property crime rate declined by 32 percent during the last 10 years.”
