U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 1998 202/307-0784
MOST SERIOUS CRIME RATES FAR HIGHER
IN THE UNITED STATES THAN IN GERMANY
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Most serious crime rates are
far higher in the United States than in Germany,
according to a new study prepared for the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
There are five murders and rapes per 100,000 population
reported to police in the United States for every one
in Germany, Europe's largest country. There are three
or four robberies and felony assaults reported here per
100,000 population for every one in Germany.
For property crime the differences are smaller,
but still substantial. There are one and a half times
as many burglaries, two and a half times as many motor
vehicle thefts and arsons and twice as many drug
offenses reported to law enforcement agencies here for
each one in Germany.
The number of crimes per 100,000 inhabitants
reported to police during 1992 in the United States
and Germany was as follows:
U.S. Germany*
Willful homicide . . 9 2
Rape . . . . . . . . 43 8
Robbery . . . . . . 264 71
Aggravated assault. . 442 120
Burglary . . . . . . 1,168 747
Serious theft . . . . 1,747 2,175
Arson . . . . . . . . 42 17
Drug offenses
(arrests only) 418 187
----------------------------------------------
*Former West Germany and all of Berlin but
not including the remainder of the former
East Germany.
Moreover, the German clearance rates are
considerably higher. The 1992 clearance rates for the
two countries in percentages were as follows:
U.S. Germany*
Willful homicide . . . . 65% 91%
Rape . . . . . . . . . 52 71
Robbery . . . . . . . . 24 41
Aggravated assault . . 56 81
Burglary . . . . . . . . 13 17
Motor vehicle theft . . 14 23
Theft . . . . . . . . . 20 31
Arson . . . . . . . . . 15 32
Drug offenses . . . . N.A. 96
--------------------------------------------
*Former West Germany and all of Berlin but
not including the remainder of the former
East Germany.
"Impressionistic evidence suggests that clearance
rates are viewed as a more important indicator of
system performance in Germany than in the United
States," the report commented.
The report, the most detailed analysis ever
conducted of the differences in the German and American
prosecution systems, notes that the German criminal
justice system contrasts sharply with the American
system in a number of important ways. As in the United
States, the German states (Laender) are responsible for
criminal justice administration. Germany, however, has
a single national code of criminal procedures and a
much more unified court system. The police and the
prosecutors are state-level officials rather than
local agency employees. The prosecutor is not an
elected official, but a civil servant operating
within a hierarchal system. There is no death
penalty in Germany, and sentences for all crimes--both
major and minor--are considerably lower than in the
United States. German juveniles are never tried as
adults, even for the most serious crimes. And many
18- to 20-year-olds are tried in the German juvenile
courts.
The report, "German and American Prosecutions: An
Approach to Statistical Comparison" (NCJ-166610), was
prepared for BJS by Floyd Feeney of the School of Law,
University of California at Davis. The author assumes
sole responsibility for the statistical assumptions
and estimating procedures in the report. Single copies
may be obtained by calling the BJS Clearinghouse at
1-800/732-3277.
BJS regularly publishes reports on comparable
justice statistics in different countries. The BJS
Internet site is:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Additional criminal justice materials can be
obtained from the Office of Justice Programs Internet
homepage at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
# # #
BJS98145
After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354
Date Published: August 9, 1998