Criminal Victimization 1994

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE    

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT     BJS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1996        202/307-0784

CRIME VICTIMIZATION DROPS THREE PERCENT 
FROM 1993 TO 1994

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Total violent and
property crime victimizations fell almost 3
percent from 1993 to 1994, the Justice Department
reported today.   Violent crime rates leveled off
during that period, after falling 20 percent
between 1981 and 1986 and then rising 15 percent
from 1986 through 1991.  Property crimes continued
a general 15-year decline.  
     
     During 1994, there were an estimated 10.9
million violent crimes, including 6.6 million
simple assaults, 2.5 million aggravated assaults,
1.3 million robberies and 430,000 rapes or other
types of sexual assault.  The figures were
essentially the same for 1992 and 1993, according
to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which
reported 51 violent victimizations per 1,000
United States residents, including 43 assaults per
1,000 residents, 6 robberies and 2 sexual assaults
or rapes per 1,000 residents.

     Two-thirds of the rape and sexual assault
victims knew their assailants.  Offenders
possessed or used a weapon in more than half of
the robberies and 16 percent of the rapes and
sexual assaults.

     During 1994 26 percent of the violent
incidents occurred at or near the victim's home,
20 percent on the street away from home, 13
percent at school and 13 percent in a store or
other commercial establishment.

     One of every nine persons from 12 through 15
years old was a violent crime victim during 1994,
as was one in 16 blacks (compared to one in 20
whites) and one in 17 males (compared to one in 24
females).

     There were 111 violent victimizations for
every 1,000 teenagers and young adults, more than
twice the rate for men and women aged 25-49 and
about 11 times higher than that for people age 50
or older.

     The young, blacks, males and the poor were
the most victimized by violent crime.  People in
households earning less than $15,000 annually were
three times more likely to be raped or sexually
assaulted, almost twice as likely to be robbed and
one and one half times as likely to be victims of
aggravated assault than were people living in
households with higher incomes.

     About 36 percent of all crimes and 42 percent
of violent crimes were said to have been reported
to law enforcement agencies last year.  An
estimated 36 percent of rapes and 20 percent of
attempted rapes and 41 percent of sexual assaults
were reported, as were 55 percent of robberies, 52
percent of aggravated assaults and 36 percent of
simple assaults.

     Property crimes, which accounted for 73
percent of all crimes measured, included 23.8
million thefts, 5.5 million household burglaries
and 1.8 million motor vehicle thefts, which
declined in 1994 after increasing for several
years.  The statistics include attempted as well
as completed crimes.

     The burglary and theft rates continued
substantial declines that have persisted since
1973 and 1979 respectively. 

       Robbery rates also were unchanged between
1992 and 1994, after undergoing slight increases
during the late 1980s.  

     The data are from the Bureau of Justice
Statistics' (BJS) annual crime victimization
survey, for which 120,000 people 12 years old and
older are interviewed about crimes they
experienced during the previous six months.  The
survey includes both crimes reported to police and
those that go unreported.  Because it includes
unreported crime, there are differences between
these data and estimates from the Federal Bureau
of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Reports
(UCR), which are based on police reports.  

     The survey excludes murder because of an
inability to question the victims.  The Federal
Bureau of Investigation reported 23,305 murders
and non-negligent manslaughters during 1994. 

     Single copies of the bulletin, "Criminal
Victimization 1994" (NCJ-158022), written by BJS
statisticians Craig Perkins and Patsy Klaus, may
be obtained from the BJS Clearinghouse, Box 179,
Annapolis Junction, Maryland 20701-0179.  The
telephone number is 1-800/732-3277.  Fax orders to
410/792-4358.  BJS's home page address on the
Internet is:             

           http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

After hours contact:  Stu Smith at 301/983-9354

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