U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 9 A.M., EST BJS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1997 202/307-0784 VIOLENT VICTIMIZATIONS FELL 10 PERCENT LAST YEAR Property Crimes Declined 8 Percent WASHINGTON -- The nation's violent crime rate fell 10 percent last year and was 16 percent lower than in 1993, the Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Property crime was down more than 8 percent last year and was 17 percent lower than in 1993. Certain personal crimes were down dramatically during the 1993-1996 period: rape, including attempted rape, fell 44 percent, other sexual assaults dropped 37 percent and aggravated assault declined 27 percent. Some property crimes also fell substantially during the 1993-1996 period: household burglary down 19 percent, motor vehicle theft 29 percent and personal theft (pocket picking, purse snatching and attempted purse snatching), down 35 percent. "The victimization rates in 1996 are the lowest recorded by the National Crime Victimization Survey since its inception in 1973," commented BJS Director Jan M. Chaiken. There were an estimated 2.7 million completed violent crimes in 1996 (a rate of 12.4 per 1,000 U.S. residents 12 years old and older), compared to 3 million such crimes in 1995 (a rate of 13.8 per 1,000 residents 12 and older). There were an estimated 27.4 million completed or attempted household property crimes during 1996 (a rate of 266 per 1,000 households), compared to 29.5 million during 1995 (a rate of 291 such crimes per 1,000 households). The data are from the Bureau's National Crime Victimization Survey, which BJS revised in 1993 to gather additional information about victimization. The 1996 statistics, which reflect both reported crime and offenses not reported to law enforcement agencies, are in general agreement with those in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports released in early October. Forty-eight percent of all victims of violence in 1996 knew the offender. Assault, rape and sexual assault victims were especially likely to have known their attackers. About 43 percent of the violent crimes and 35 percent of the property crimes were reported to law enforcement agencies during 1996. Females were more likely than males and blacks more likely than whites to report a victimization to police. Rape, robbery, assault, personal and household theft, household burglary and motor vehicle theft did not increase by a statistically significant amount in any year between 1993 and 1996, and the rates decreased during those years about equally for all gender, racial and income groups. Hispanic households experienced a greater decrease in property crimes than did non-Hispanic households. The survey interviews approximately 100,000 people 12 years old and older in a representative sample of the national population and measures both crimes reported to police and those that are unreported. Single copies of the report, "Criminal Victimization 1996 -- Changes 1995-96 with Trends 1993-96" (NCJ-165812), by BJS statistician Cheryl Ringel, may be obtained by clicking on BJS's homepage on the Internet at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ Single copies may also be obtained from the BJS fax-on-demand system by dialing 301/519-5550, listening to the complete menu and selecting document number 85 for the full report or document number 86 for the news release or by calling the BJS Clearinghouse number 1-800-732-3277. Fax orders for mail delivery to 410/792-4358. Additional criminal justice materials can be obtained from the Office of Justice Programs homepage at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354