General Crime Program

HOMICIDE: One person is murdered every 31 minutes. 2
RAPE: One person is raped every 1.9 minutes. 3
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT: One person is assaulted every 36.9 seconds. 4
LARCENY-THEFT: One home is victimized by theft every 4.8 seconds. 5
BURGLARY: One home is burglarized every 18 seconds. 6
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: One woman is victimized by an intimate partner every 52 seconds. One man is victimized every 3.5 minutes.7
CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT: One child is reported abused or neglected every 34.9 seconds. 8
DRUNK DRIVING: One person is killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash every 40.4 minutes. 9
IDENTITY THEFT: One person becomes a victim of identity theft every 4.9 seconds. 10
ELDER ABUSE: One elderly person is victimized every 4.2 minutes. 11
HATE CRIME: One hate crime is reported to the police every 69 minutes. 12

More than 30 million Americans will become victims of crime this year. (The National Center for Victims of Crime.)

In 1998, U.S. residents aged twelve or older experienced approximately 31.3 million crimes. The types of victimization are as follows: 73 percent (22.9 million) were property crimes, 26 percent (8.1 million) were crimes of violence, and 1 percent were personal thefts. (Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). July 1999. Criminal Victimization 1998: Changes 1997-98 with trends 1993-98. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Victims reported about half of all violent crime (46%) and about a third (35%) of property crimes to the police in 1998. Among violent crimes, victims reported robberies most often (62%) and rape and sexual assaults least often (32%). Among property crimes, motor vehicle thefts continued to be the property crime most often reported (80%). (Ibid.)

Offenders used a weapon in about one fourth of violent victimization's in 1998. (Ibid.)

In 1998, law enforcement agencies nationwide made an estimated 14.5 million arrest for all criminal infractions excluding traffic violations. More specifically, drug abuse violations accounted for 1.6 million arrests, driving under the influence registered approximately 1.4 million arrests and larceny-thefts and simple assaults each accounted for 1.3 million arrests. (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 17 October 1999. Crime in the United States, Uniform Crime Reports, 1998. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Justice, 209.)

Crime Index Offenses for 1998 include the following crimes and prevalence of occurrence: larceny-theft (59.1%); burglary (18.7%); motor vehicle theft (9.9%); aggravated assault (7.8%); robbery (3.6%); forcible rape (0.7%); and murder (0.1%). (Ibid., 209)

Victim characteristics for violent crime in 1998 are as follows: 76 percent were reported to be aged eighteen and over, 15 percent juveniles twelve to seventeen, and 6 percent children under the age of twelve. Males accounted for 42 percent of victims and females, 58 percent. Seventy-two percent of victims were white, 25 percent black, and the remaining victims of other races or unknown race. (Ibid., 279)

Of the 421,493 victims of violent offenses, 112,042 (27%) were reported to have been related to one or more of their offenders. (Ibid., 280)

In 1998, simple assault was the most common offense of all reported violent crimes (58.2%). (Ibid., 279)

1 Note: All Calculations were conducted by the National Center for Victims of Crime utilizing date from sources cited.

2 Federal bureau of Invesitigation, "Crime in the United Sates, 2007: Murder," (Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2006), http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/offenses/violent_crime/murder_homicide.html (Accessed August 14, 2008).

3. Shannan M. Catalano, "Criminal Victimization, 2006," (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007),3, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cv06.pdf (accessed August 14, 2008).

4. Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Crime in the United States 2007" Table 1

5. Ibid

6. Ibid, Table 23

7. Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2006: Statistical Tables" (Washington, D.C.; Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007). Table 37. Table 43a, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvus06.pdf (accessed September 11, 2008).

8. Children's Bureau, "Child Maltreatment, 2006," (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007), 26, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/cm06.pdf (accessed August 14, 2008).

9. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "2007 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment - Highlights," (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, 2008), Table 3,

10. Mary T. Monahon, "2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report," (Pleasanton, CA: Javelin Study and Research Survey 2007).

11. Catalano, "Criminal Victimization," 4.

12. Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Hate Crime Statistics, 2006" (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2007), Table 1., http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2006/incidents.html (accessed August 29, 2008).