For Immediate Release
October
28, 2002
|
Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
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Crime
in the United States, 2001
The Nation's Crime Index
increased 2.1 percent in 2001 from the 2000 number, the
first year-to-year increase since 1991, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation reported today. However, final data released
by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program in
the annual publication Crime in the United States, 2001,
indicated that, when looking at 5- and 10-year trends,
crime was down 10.2 percent when compared to 1997 data
and down 17.9 percent when compared to 1992 statistics.
The Crime Index is composed
of four violent crimes (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter,
forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and three
property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle
theft). The Crime Index offenses plus the arson offenses
form the Modified Crime Index. Index crimes serve as a
measure of the level and scope of the Nation's crime experience.
In 2001, the nearly 17,000
city, county, and state law enforcement agencies that
provided data to the UCR Program represented 92 percent
of the total United States population as established by
the Bureau of the Census. Population estimates were included
for nonreporting areas. Because of the many variables
that affect crime in a city, county, state, or region,
data users are cautioned against comparing or ranking
locales. Valid assessments are possible only with careful
study and analysis of the various conditions affecting
each law enforcement jurisdiction.
Crime Volume
- The estimated 11.8 million
Crime Index offenses in the Nation in 2001 represented
a 2.1-percent increase over the 2000 estimate.
- In 2001, estimated violent
crime showed a 0.8-percent increase over the 2000 estimate.
Five- and 10-year trends revealed that the estimated
number of violent crime offenses decreased 12.2 percent
from the 1997 estimate and 25.7 percent from the 1992
estimate.
- Estimated property crime
was up 2.3 percent from the prior year's estimate. Property
crime trends for the 5- and 10-year period showed a
9.9-percent decrease from the 1997 level and a 16.7-percent
decrease from the 1992 level.
- Collectively, the Nation's
cities reported an increase of 2.0 percent in the total
number of crimes reported. Cities with populations of
250,000 to 499,999 recorded the largest increase of
reported crime offenses at 4.1 percent. The smallest
increase in volume (0.5 percent) occurred in cities
with 1 million or more inhabitants. Suburban and rural
counties had increases in the volume of crimes reported
of 2.4 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Crime Index Rate
- The Crime Index rate
measures the total estimated volume of the seven Index
offenses per 100,000 United States population. In 2001,
the Crime Index rate was 4,160.5 estimated offenses
per 100,000 inhabitants, 0.9 percent higher than the
2000 estimated rate. However, the rate was 15.6 percent
lower than the 1997 rate and 26.5 percent lower than
the 1992 rate.
- By region, the South
had a Crime Index rate of 4,760.9; the West, 4,354.9;
the Midwest, 3,981.1; and the Northeast, 3,006.9 offenses
per 100,000 inhabitants. The Northeast was the only
region to have a decrease (1.9 percent) in the Crime
Index rate when compared to the previous year's rate.
The West's rate increased 3.0 percent, the Midwest's
rate rose 1.1 percent, and the South's rate was up 0.3
percent when compared to rates in 2000.
- Metropolitan Statistical
Areas (MSAs) had a rate of 4,474.9 offenses per 100,000
inhabitants. Cities outside the Nation's MSAs recorded
a rate of 4,450.4 per 100,000 population. Rural counties
reported a Crime Index rate of 1,892.4 per 100,000 in
population.
Violent Crime
Data reported in 2001 indicated
a 0.8-percent increase in the estimated volume of violent
crime from the 2000 estimate, or an estimated 1.4 million
violent crimes. However, the rate of violent crime (504.4
offenses per 100,000 inhabitants) decreased 0.4 percent
from the 2000 data.
Personal weapons, such as
hands, fists, and feet, were used in 31.1 percent of violent
crimes. Firearms were involved in 26.2 percent of violent
crimes, and knives and other cutting instruments in 14.9
percent. Other dangerous weapons were used in 27.8 percent
of violent crimes reported in 2001.
Property Crime
- Both the volume and rate
per 100,000 inhabitants of all property crime offenses
increased in 2001. With an estimated 10.4 million offenses,
the property crime total was 2.3 percent higher than
the 2000 total. The estimated property crime rate of
3,656.1 per 100,000 inhabitants was 1.0 percent higher
than the previous year's rate.
- The estimated dollar
loss attributed to property crime (excluding arson)
was $16.6 billion, a 5.6-percent increase from the 2000
estimate.
Hate Crime
- Hate crime data were
provided by 11,987 law enforcement agencies. The 9,726
hate crime incidents reported in 2001 involved 11,447
separate offenses, 12,016 victims, and 9,231 known offenders.
- Of all reported single-bias
incidents, 44.9 percent were motivated by racial bias,
21.6 percent were motivated by an ethnicity or national
origin bias, 18.8 percent were based on a religious
bias, 14.3 percent were based on a sexual-orientation
bias, and 0.3 percent were based on a disability bias.
- A review of the hate
crime victims showed that 64.6 percent of reported victims
were targets of a hate crime against persons; 34.7 percent
of victims were targets of a hate crime against property.
The remaining 0.6 percent of victims were targets of
crimes against society.
- Intimidation accounted
for 55.9 percent of hate crimes directed against persons.
Destruction, damage, or vandalism was reported in 83.7
percent of hate crimes against property.
Index Crime Clearances
- Nationally, 19.6 percent
of all Crime Index offenses were cleared by arrest or
exceptional means in 2001. Of violent crimes, 46.2 percent
were cleared, and 16.2 percent of property crimes (excluding
arson) were cleared. In addition, 16.0 percent of arson
offenses were cleared.
- Of all Crime Index offenses,
murder was the offense most likely to be cleared-62.4
percent. Burglary had the lowest percentage (12.7 percent)
of clearances among the Crime Index offenses.
- Of the Crime Index offenses
cleared in 2001, 18.6 percent involved only juveniles
(persons under the age of 18). Juvenile clearances accounted
for 12.1 percent of the overall violent crime clearances
and 21.1 percent of property crime clearances.
Arrests
- Law enforcement made
an estimated 13.7 million arrests for criminal offenses
(excluding traffic violations) in 2001, a 2.1-percent
decline from the 2000 estimated total.
- Approximately 2.2 million
of the estimated arrests involved Crime Index offenses,
accounting for 16.4 percent of the total arrests. A
look at the two categories of Index crime showed that
violent crime arrests increased 0.1 percent, and property
crime arrests decreased 1.0 percent when comparing 2000
and 2001 data.
- A review of Crime Index
offense data showed that 73.8 percent of those arrested
were adults. A breakdown of Index crime categories showed
that 84.6 percent of arrestees for violent crime were
adults as were 69.9 percent of arrestees for property
crime.
- A review of violent crime
arrest data by age showed that 44.2 percent of the arrestees
were persons under 25 years of age, and 15.4 percent
were under age 18. Arrest data for property crimes showed
that 58.3 percent of those arrested were under 25 years
of age, and 30.4 percent of arrestees were under age
18.
- An analysis of total
arrests showed that 83.3 percent of arrestees were adults.
Of total arrests nationwide, 45.9 percent involved persons
under the age of 25, and 16.7 percent involved persons
under the age of 18.
- An analysis of arrest
data by gender showed that approximately 77.5 percent
of all arrestees were male; 69.5 percent of all arrestees
were white. By volume, males were most often arrested
for drug abuse violations; females were most often arrested
for larceny-theft offenses.
- The Nation's smallest
cities, those with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, had
the highest arrest rate per 100,000 population, 6,308.4.
Among cities, the lowest arrest rate (4,482.5 per 100,000
inhabitants) was reported in cities with populations
of 25,000 to 49,999. Rural counties had an overall arrest
rate of 3,968.3 and suburban counties a rate of 3,801.5
arrests per 100,000 inhabitants.
Murder
- An estimated 15,980 murders
occurred in the United States in 2001, a 2.5-percent
increase over the 2000 estimate. However, a 5-year trend
reflected a 12.2-percent decline from the 1997 estimate.
The rate of 5.6 murders per 100,000 in population was
1.3 percent higher than the 2000 rate of 5.5, but 17.5
percent lower than the 1997 rate.
- Supplemental data such
as the age, sex, and race of the victim and offender,
the type of weapon used, and the circumstance of the
incident were provided for 13,752 murders. Based on
those reports, 76.6 percent of murder victims were male
and 89.6 percent were adults (those aged 18 and over).
By race, 49.8 percent of murder victims were white,
47.5 percent were black, and the remainder were persons
of other races.
- Approximately 42.3 percent
of murder victims knew their assailants. Nearly a third
of all female victims were slain by a husband or boyfriend.
- Supplemental homicide
data revealed that 90.3 percent of murder offenders
were male, and 91.7 percent were over the age of 18.
Of the incidents in which the race of the offender was
known, 50.3 percent of the offenders were black, 47.2
percent were white, and 2.5 percent were of other races.
- In 2001, of murders with
a single victim and a single offender, 93.6 percent
of black homicide victims were killed by black offenders;
85.4 percent of white homicide victims were killed by
white offenders.
- For those incidents in
which the murder weapon was known, 69.5 percent were
committed with a firearm. Knives or cutting instruments
were employed in 14.3 percent of murders in 2001. Personal
weapons, such as hands, fists, feet, etc., were used
in 7.4 percent, blunt objects were used in 5.3 percent,
and other dangerous weapons (e.g., poisons or explosives)
were used in the remainder of the homicides.
- Twenty-eight percent
of homicide victims were involved in an argument with
the offender. More than 16 percent (16.6) of murders
occurred in conjunction with another felony, such as
robbery or arson. Circumstances were unknown in 32.4
percent of murders.
Forcible Rape
- There were an estimated
90,491 forcible rapes in the United States in 2001,
an increase of 0.3 percent when compared to the 2000
estimate.
- In 2001, there were 62.2
forcible rapes per 100,000 females in the Nation, which
continued a downward trend. In 2000, there were an estimated
62.7 rapes per 100,000 females. A review of 5- and 10-year
trend data showed that in 1997 the estimated rate was
70.3 rapes per 100,000 females; and in 1992, the estimated
rate was 83.7.
Robbery
- The estimated 422,921
robberies reported in 2001 represented the first increase
of this offense (up 3.7 percent) in year-to-year comparisons
since 1991. The rate of robberies nationwide was 148.5
offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, a 2.4-percent increase
from the 2000 rate.
- Robbery accounted for
3.6 percent of all Crime Index offenses and 29.4 percent
of all violent crimes in the United States in 2001.
- Robbery resulted in an
estimated $532 million loss in 2001, or an average dollar
loss of $1,258. Bank robberies had the highest average
loss at $4,587 per offense.
- During 2001, firearms
were used in 42.0 percent of the reported robbery offenses,
and strong-arm tactics were used in 39.0 percent of
robberies. Offenders used knives or cutting instruments
in 8.7 percent of robbery offenses; the remaining 10.4
percent involved other weapons.
Aggravated Assault
- The only Crime Index
offense to show a decrease (0.5 percent) in estimated
volume when compared to the 2000 estimate, aggravated
assaults accounted for 63.1 percent of violent crimes
in 2001, or an estimated 907,219 aggravated assault
offenses.
- Five- and 10-year trends
indicated that the estimated volume of aggravated assaults
was down 11.3 percent from the 1997 estimate and was
down 19.5 percent from the 1992 estimate.
- The rate of aggravated
assaults per 100,000 inhabitants for the Nation was
318.5, which was 1.7 percent less than in 2000, 16.6
percent lower than in 1997, and 27.9 percent lower than
in 1992.
- Personal weapons, such
as hands, fists, and feet, were used in 27.9 percent
of aggravated assaults in 2001. Firearms were used in
18.3 percent of the offenses. Knives or cutting instruments
were used in 17.8 percent of the incidents, and blunt
objects or other dangerous weapons were used in 36.0
percent of aggravated assaults in 2001.
Burglary
- There were an estimated
2.1 million burglaries in 2001, a 2.9-percent increase
from the previous year's data.
- In 2001, burglary data
showed an estimated $3.3 billion in losses in the Nation
with an average loss per incident of $1,545. Most burglaries
(65.2 percent) were residential in nature.
- Forcible entry was involved
in 63.3 percent of burglaries. Unlawful entry without
the use of force comprised 30.2 percent of burglaries,
and attempted forcible entry accounted for 6.5 percent.
Larceny-theft
- There were more than
7.0 million estimated larceny-theft offenses in 2001,
an increase of 1.5 percent from the 2000 estimate.
- Larcenies accounted for
59.7 percent of all Crime Index offenses and 68.0 percent
of all property crimes.
- Data reported for larceny-theft
offenses showed an estimated $5.2 billion in losses
nationwide. The average monetary loss per offense was
$730.
Motor Vehicle Theft
- There were more than
1.2 million estimated motor vehicle thefts in 2001,
a 5.7-percent increase over the 2000 estimate. This
translated into a rate of 430.6 motor vehicle thefts
per 100,000 United States inhabitants.
- By vehicle type, motor
vehicles were stolen at a rate of 336.9 per 100,000
inhabitants during 2001; trucks and buses were stolen
at a rate of 86.5 per 100,000 persons.
- Based on the more than
1.2 million estimated motor vehicles stolen in 2001,
the estimated dollar value of vehicles stolen nationwide
was almost $8.2 billion. Approximately 62.0 percent
of that amount was recovered. The estimated average
value of stolen motor vehicles was $6,646.
Arson
- A total of 76,760 arson
offenses were reported in 2001.
- For the 68,967 arson
offenses for which supplemental data were provided,
the average monetary value of property loss for arson
was $11,098 per incident. The average loss for structural
properties was $20,128, and the average loss for mobile
properties was $6,974 per incident. Other property types
had an average dollar loss of $1,361 per incident.
- Structural arson was
the most frequently reported arson category in 2001
and accounted for 42.2 percent of the arson offense
total. Mobile properties were the target of 32.5 percent
of reported arson offenses, and other property types
accounted for the remaining 25.4 percent.
- The offense of arson
had a higher percentage of juvenile involvement than
any other Index offense. Of all arson offenses cleared
in 2001, 45.2 percent involved only juvenile offenders.
Law Enforcement
Employees
- The 13,530 city, county,
and state police agencies that reported 2001 personnel
data collectively employed 659,104 officers and 279,926
civilians and provided law enforcement services to approximately
268.1 million United States inhabitants.
- In 2001, law enforcement
agencies in the Nation employed 2.5 full-time officers
per 1000 inhabitants. Cities collectively employed 2.4
officers per 1,000 inhabitants. Suburban counties had
a rate of 2.7 officers per 1,000 inhabitants; rural
counties had 2.5 full-time officers per 1,000 population.
- Males comprised 88.8
percent of all sworn officers, and females accounted
for 62.7 percent of all civilian employees. Civilians
made up 29.8 percent of the total law enforcement employee
force in the Nation in 2001.
Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
Most of the data associated
with the events of September 11, 2001, were included only
in a special report published in Section V of Crime in
the United States, 2001. As of the date of publication,
the report revealed that:
- In all, there were 3,047
deaths as a result of the events of September 11, 2001:
2,823 homicide victims were attributed to the attacks
on the World Trade Center, 184 murder victims to the
Pentagon, and 40 murder victims to the airliner crash
site in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
- The vast majority, 99.7
percent, of victims were over age 18 in those cases
when the age of the victim was known. Most victims were
between the ages of 35 and 39.
- All of the offenders
were white males. Four offenders were under age 22.
The oldest offender was in the 30-34 age group.
Crime in the United
States, 2001, is available on the FBI's Internet site
at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm.
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