Crime in the United States Stabilizes

• NCJ Number: 86585
• Journal: FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 51 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1982) Pages: 12-15
• Author(s): Anonymous
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A review of the 1981 crime Index figures compiled by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program reveals that serious crime rates remained unchanged from 1980, although these figures represent a 22 percent increase from 1977 and a 61 percent for 1972.

Abstract

The southern States, the nation's most populous area, recorded 32 percent of all crime Index offenses, followed by the western States with 24 percent, north central States with 23 percent, and the northeastern States with 21 percent. Serious crime in the cities remained unchanged, but declined slightly in the suburbs and rural counties. Violent crimes rose 1 percent from 1980, accounting for 10 percent of all crime Index offenses reported. Within this category, murders, forcible rape, and aggravated assaults dropped slightly while robberies rose by 5 percent. The property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft showed little change from 1980. Larceny-theft, the highest volume index crime, produced a national loss of $2.4 billion. More than half the persons arrested for this crime were under 21 years old. Furthermore, 4 out of 5 persons arrested for burglary were under 25, and 61 percent of persons arrested for motor vehicle theft were under 21 years. The estimated national loss from stolen vehicles was $3.4 billion. The amount of property damage from arson reported in 1981 was $914 million, with structures and mobile property being the most frequent targets. Arrests for arson increased by 4 percent over 1980 and 13 percent over 1977. Law enforcement agencies cleared 19 percent of all crime Index offenses reported in 1981. However, the clearance rate for violent crime was 43 percent and only 17 percent for property crime. There was a 7 percent increase in adult arrests for crime Index offenses, but a decrease of 3 percent for those under 18. During 1981, 91 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty, a 13 percent decline from the previous year. Other areas covered in the review include crime rate breakdowns by sex and race and assaults on police. Graphs are provided.