Highlights
The elderly have high numbers of victimizations for a variety of property crimes.
From 2003 to 2013 rates of nonfatal violent crime against the elderly increased 27 percent.
We need to reinvigorate our efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us, and that includes older Americans.
Author
Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.
Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of award-winning public relations 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. Aspiring drummer.
Introduction
Crime against older Americans has never been a priority; many believe that the elderly have low numbers for criminal victimization. New data challenges this assumption.
This article is based on a report from the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System(NIBRS) plus additional research. See more about the NIRBS at the bottom of this article.
High Property Crime Numbers For Older Americans
Per the chart below, it’s clear that older Americans have a property crime problem.
Yes, other age groups (chart below) have five-year segments and those 66 and above have the potential for many additional years. But the traditional belief is that older Americans don’t have a crime problem. That’s incorrect.
Combining the 61-65 and the 66+ age groups, it’s clear that older Americans have high numbers for
burglary
counterfeiting and forgery
destruction/damage/vandalism
embezzlement
fraud, larceny and theft
and motor vehicle theft.
Violence Against Older Americans
The focus of the justice system is violent crime. In terms of numbers, per the FBI report above, those 61 and above have the lowest violent crime numbers.
But a report from another US Department of Justice agency, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, stated that from 2003 to 2013 rates of nonfatal violent crime against the elderly increased 27 percent, from 3.4 to 4.4 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 65 or older. Note that this occurred during a period of generally declining crime rates for the overall US population. Crime rates for elderly persons were consistently lower than rates for persons in younger age groups, Crime and The Elderly
The report also states that 59 percent of nonfatal violent crimes committed against the elderly occurred at or near their home while 35 percent occurred at other locations, such as commercial places, parking lots or garages, open public areas, and public transportation. Violent crime in or close to the homes of elderly people seems to correlate with property crimes involving older Americans.
Violent Crime Against Persons With Disabilities Nearly Four Times Higher
The age-adjusted rate of serious violent crime—rape or other sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault—against persons with disabilities (22 per 1,000) was nearly four times higher than that for persons without disabilities (6 per 1,000) in 2012.
Age is correlated with disabilities, Disabilities and Crime.
Fear Of Crime
“An examination of existing evidence regarding the fear of crime in America seems to indicate clearly that the elderly bear the heaviest psychological costs of crime,” National Criminal Justice Reference Service.
A variety of research indicates that the elderly suffer greatly from the psychological and monetary impacts of victimization. As a police officer, I assisted older Americans with their criminal victimizations; the impact can be devastating.
Crime causes older victims to spend limited funds to better protect themselves. Their fear of future victimization is high. Many felt afraid and alone.
It’s equally disturbing that in many cases, the victims knew their offenders. Some were family members.
Conclusions
It’s understandable that the justice system would make violent crime a top priority. But not making crime against the elderly a concern is a mistake.
Everyone needs to understand that a burglary or fraud involving older Americans can have a devastating impact that extends far beyond their limited finances.
I did an article about a television producer who moved his family to Baltimore and suffered three garage burglaries in a month. They quickly moved thirty miles from the city because they had the financial means to do so. In many or most cases, older people with limited incomes don’t have that luxury.
We need to reinvigorate our efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us, and that includes older Americans.
The FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)-Background
Implemented to improve the overall quality of crime data collected by law enforcement, NIBRS captures details on each single crime incident, as well as on separate offenses within the same incident, including information on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, arrestees, and property involved in crimes. Unlike data reported through the UCR Program’s traditional Summary Reporting System, an aggregate monthly tally of crimes, NIBRS goes much deeper because of its ability to provide circumstances and context for crimes like location, time of day, and whether the incident was cleared.
As recommended by professional law enforcement organizations, the FBI has made nationwide implementation of NIBRS a top priority because NIBRS can provide more useful statistics to promote constructive discussion, measured planning, and informed policing.
The vision for NIBRS is for it to become the law enforcement community’s standard for quantifying crime, which will help law enforcement and communities around the country use resources more strategically and effectively. In 2018, approximately 44 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies that participated in the UCR Program submitted data via NIBRS.
When used to its full potential, NIBRS identifies, with precision, when and where crime takes place, what form it takes, and the characteristics of its victims and perpetrators. Armed with such information, law enforcement can better define the resources it needs to fight crime, as well as use those resources in the most efficient and effective manner.
NIBRS, 2018, is available at FBI.
More information about the NIBRS transition is available on the NIBRS webpage at FBI.
See More
See more articles on crime and justice at Crime in America.
Contact
Contact us at leonardsipes@gmail.com.
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