Highlights
An overview of those arrested or victimized by race or ethnic background.
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of directing award-winning public relations (and explaining crime data) for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet.
Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of Criminology and Public affairs-University of Maryland, University College.
Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Former police officer. Aspiring drummer.
Author of ”Success With The Media: Everything You Need To Survive Reporters and Your Organization” available at Amazon and additional booksellers.
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Quotes
All quotes are edited for brevity.
Background
This is the seventeenth in a series offering data from the FBI’s latest crime reports based on crimes reported to law enforcement.
The first was Locations Of Violent Crime-Where Crime Happens. The second was The Time Of Day For Violent And Property Crimes. The third was Violent Crime Totals By State. The fourth was Violent Crime Victims By Race And Ethnicity-Who’s Victimized Most? The fifth was Are Females Violently Victimized More Than Males? The sixth was Most People Are Violently Victimized By Family Members Or People They Know. The seventh was 10 Percent Of Violent Victimizations Involved A Firearm-Weapons Used During Crime. The eighth was Most Crimes Are Not Solved-Why? The ninth was 250,000 Attempted But Failed Property Crimes Per The FBI-Reasons Why. The tenth was What Causes Murders And Aggravated Assaults? The eleventh was Crime Victims By Age-Those 50 And Above Have Surprisingly High Numbers. The twelfth was Understanding How The US Collects Reported Crime Data. The thirteenth was How Many Americans Are Victimized By Violent And Property Crime Yearly? The fourteenth was Males Are Arrested Far More Than Females Yet Women In Prison Skyrocket. The fifteenth was Violent And Property Crimes By Month. The sixteenth was Arrests By Age-Juveniles Have The Highest Categories For Most Violent Crimes.
Most Crimes Are Not Reported
Per the National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice, only 42 percent of violent crimes are reported to law enforcement.
Thirty-two percent of property crimes are reported. The great majority of what we call crime are property-related events which means that most crime is not recorded by the FBI. In 2018, 74 percent of violent victimizations against juveniles were not reported to the police. Data suggests that a small percentage of cybercrimes are reported to law enforcement.
Nevertheless, the numbers below from the FBI are some of the best indicators we have regarding the total number of “reported” crimes and the characteristics of those crimes.
Article
The article answers readers’ questions as to who is arrested and who is victimized by race and ethnic background. We start with data from the FBI and supplement it with charts and observations from the Bureau of Justice Statistics through the latest National Crime Victimization Survey. Both are agencies within the US Department of Justice.
The first chart below is from the most recent non-preliminary full-year report from the FBI using 2022 data. There are a variety of charts available on the FBI website regarding who is arrested but only one combines both race and ethnicity.
Please note that arrests (and crimes solved) are at historic lows for adults and juveniles. Adult arrests plummeted after the protests regarding the police use of force and the pandemic but they had been declining for years before those events.
Demographics
Per the US Census, Whites make up 59 percent of the US population. Hispanics constitute 19 percent, African Americans comprise 13 percent, and Asians 6 percent. See the link for the other categories.
Identifying Offenders
Please note that identification of race or Hispanic origin is a judgment call by crime victims and those questioned about their victimizations can be wrong, especially in stranger-to-stranger crimes (yet it’s interesting that most violent crimes involve non-strangers).
Research reports suggest that crime victims often misidentify their offenders on a variety of variables. Witnesses often focus on weapons, not the identity of the perpetrator; cross-racial eyewitness identifications are known to be incredibly suspect. This is validated by the “other” or “unknown” designations in a chart from the Bureau of Justice Statistics below.
As a former police officer, victims can and do misidentify the race or ethnic backgrounds of offenders.
5,781,000 Arrests Per the FBI
The bulk of those arrested (using rounded numbers) are Whites, 3,927,500, Blacks, 1,624,000, and Hispanics, 1,023,000.
Whites were arrested 196,000 times for crimes of violence, Blacks were arrested 134,500 times, and Hispanics 76,500.
Whites were arrested 414,500 times for property crimes, Blacks 191,000, and Hispanics 94,000
African Americans are the primary group arrested for murders, robberies, and weapons violations.
Whites lead all other categories.
Hispanics came in second for sex offenses (not rapes), gambling, and driving while intoxicated.
Other categories for demographics are below.
Chart (click to enlarge)
Bureau Of Justice Statistics Reports on Race and Ethnicity
The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the US Department of Justice released charts and observations as to violent criminal victimization by race of victims and offenders through the 2022 National Crime Victimization Survey.
Victims And Offenders-Bureau Of Justice Statistics
Chart (click to enlarge)
Source: Violent Criminal Victimization By Race Or Hispanic Origin
Violent Victimization By Race and Ethnic Background
The data below from the Bureau of Justice Statistics provides the rates of victimization per the most recent final report (2022).
Offender’s Percentage Share Of Crime Based on Population
Per Criminal Victimization from the National Crime Victimization Survey:
In 2022, the proportion of violent incidents involving white offenders (53%), based on victims’ perceptions of the offenders, was lower than the share of white persons in the population (61%). The share of Asian offenders and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander offenders (2%) was less than the share of Asian persons and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander persons in the population (7%). The share of violent incidents involving Hispanic offenders (14%) was less than the population percentage of Hispanic persons (18%). The share of violent incidents involving black offenders (25%) was greater than the population percentage of black persons (12%).
Source: Violent Crime Victims By Race And Ethnicity-Who’s Victimized Most?
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See More
See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.
Most Dangerous Cities/States/Countries at Most Dangerous Cities.
US Crime Rates at Nationwide Crime Rates.
National Offender Recidivism Rates at Offender Recidivism.
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