Highlights
From 2020 to 2021, the violent victimization rate increased from 19.0 to 24.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons in urban areas while remaining unchanged in suburban or rural areas per the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The rate of serious violent victimization in urban areas also increased.
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Article
The National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the US Department of Justice is designed to offer a comprehensive overview of crime that escapes the limited number of violent and property incidents reported to law enforcement. Crimes reported to the police are offered yearly through the FBI.
Only a small portion of violent (46 percent for 2021-it was 40 percent for 2020) and property crimes are reported to law enforcement for a wide variety of reasons.
The Complexity Of Crime Statistics-2020
To give you an indication of the complexity of crime statistics, the Bureau of Justice Statistics states that the violent victimization rate dropped 22 percent in 2020, Criminal Victimization 2020. This is the largest decrease in violence ever reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). It was released in October 2021.
Per 2020 FBI final statistics released in September 2021, the number of homicides increased nearly 30% from 2019, the largest single-year increase the agency has recorded since it began tracking these crimes in the 1960s. Aggravated assaults and overall violent crime also increased. Note that the Bureau of Justice Statics doesn’t measure homicides because you can’t interview dead people. But homicides have historically been used as an indicator of overall crime.
Data from the FBI (crimes reported to law enforcement) for 2021 will be offered soon.
The Other National Crime Survey From Gallup-2021
Per Gallup, There is a big increase in the criminal victimization of urban households in 2021, 30 percent compared to 22 percent in 2020. Seven percent of urban residents were violently victimized compared to 3% of U.S. adults.
See Violent And Property Crime in The US for other sources offered for violent crime in 2021 and 2022.
Bureau Of Justice Statistics Introduction
This report presents official estimates of criminal victimizations reported and not reported to police from BJS’s National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The report is the 49th in a series that began in 1973 and includes statistics on nonfatal violent (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) and property crimes (burglary or trespassing, motor vehicle theft, and other types of household theft). The report also describes the characteristics of crimes and victims.
Violent And Property Crime
From 2020 to 2021, the violent victimization rate increased from 19.0 to 24.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons in urban areas while remaining unchanged in suburban or rural areas.
The rate of serious (excluding common assaults) violent victimization in urban areas increased.
The overall violent victimization rate did not change between 2020 and 2021.
In 2021, about 0.98% (2.7 million) of persons age 12 or older nationwide experienced at least one violent crime. About 6.25% (8.1 million) of households in the country experienced one or more property victimizations (burglary or trespassing, motor vehicle theft, or other household theft).
The rate of property victimization in 2021 was 90.3 victimizations per 1,000 households, which was not statistically different from the 2020 rate.
Crimes Reported To Law Enforcement Increase
About 46% of violent victimizations were reported to police in 2021, higher than in 2020 (40%).
The share of violent victimizations reported to police by Hispanic persons rose from 34% to 46%, and the share reported by white persons rose from 40% to 47%.
Victim Services
A larger share of violent victimizations in 2021 (9%) than in 2020 (6%) resulted in the victim receiving assistance from a victim service provider.
Firearms Used In Violent Crime
In 2021, about 7% of violent victimizations involved a firearm.
From 2020 to 2021, there was no statistically significant change in the number, rate, or percentage of violent victimizations involving a firearm. There was also no change during that period in the number or percentage of violent victimizations involving a firearm that were reported to the police.
Domestic Violence
From 2020 to 2021, there were no statistically significant changes in the rates of domestic violence (violent victimizations that were committed by current or former intimate partners or family members), intimate partner violence (domestic violence victimizations committed by current or former intimate partners only), and stranger violence.
Demographics Of Violence
From 2020 to 2021, the rate of violent victimization did not change when examined by the victim’s sex, race or Hispanic origin, age, marital status, or household income.
In 2021, the rate of violent victimization for males was not statistically different from the rate for females.
Females had a slightly higher rate of serious violent victimization than males.
Black violent victimization and serious violent victimization were considerably higher than Whites or Hispanics.
The 18-24 age group had the highest rates of violent victimization.
Per marital status, separated individuals had the highest rates of violent victimization.
Lower-income groups had, by far, the highest rates of violent victimization.
Offenders
In 2021, the proportion of violent incidents involving white offenders (51%), based on victims’ perceptions of the offender, 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 (1%) 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 black offenders (29%) was greater than the population percentage of black persons (12%).
There was no statistically significant difference between the percentage of violent incidents involving Hispanic offenders and the percentage of Hispanic persons in the population.
Source
Conclusions
Per the Bureau of Justice Statistics and Gallup, increasing violence seems to be concentrated in urban areas. This is substantiated by other studies.
The crime issue is a top concern of voters headed into the midterm elections. One would guess that a new report from BJS and the USDOJ indicating a rise in urban crime would be in every newspaper in the US.
I searched via Google for “news” and did an overall search for the “National Crime Victimization Survey” and the “Bureau of Justice Statistics” for the week after BJS released their report for 2021. Crickets. The report was almost ignored by the media (there was one brief mention by the Washington Post) and that includes national daily summations focusing exclusively on crime.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics press release “and” summation report “and” the full report for 2021 start off with “from 1993 to 2021, the rate of violent victimization declined from 79.8 to 16.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older.”
While statistically correct, people want to know what’s happening now (or in recent years) considering that crime issues are constantly in the news (i.e., a 50 percent increase in city homicides and a roughly 36% increase in aggravated assaults from 2019-2022). More recent data for 2021 should have been the lead.
Note that the percentage of citizens living in urban areas as defined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics is documented here.
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.
An Overview Of Data On Mental Health at Mental Health And Crime.
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