Violent Crime

Download Printable Document

Definition

Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program's definition, violent crimes involve force or threat of force.

Data collection

The data presented in Crime in the United States reflect the Hierarchy Rule, which requires that only the most serious offense in a multiple-offense criminal incident be counted. In descending order of severity, the violent crimes are murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, followed by the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.

Overview

• An estimated 1,390,695 violent crimes occurred nationwide in 2005.
• During 2005, there were an estimated 469.2 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants.
• From 2004 to 2005, the estimated volume of violent crime increased 2.3 percent. The 5-year trend indicated that violent crime decreased 3.4 percent. For the 10-year trend (1996 compared with 2005) violent crime declined 17.6 percent.
• Aggravated assault accounted for 62.1 percent, robbery accounted for 30.0 percent, forcible rape accounted for 6.8 percent, and murder accounted for 1.2 percent of the violent crimes in 2005. (Based on Table 1.)

Release Date: September 2006