U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Homicide Trends in the United States: 1998 Update

NCJ Number
179767
Author(s)
James Alan Fox; Marianne W. Zawitz
Date Published
March 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This BJS Crime Data Brief outlines the primary findings of and new additions to the section of the BJS website about homicide patterns and trends since 1976 (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm).
Abstract

This BJS Crime Data Brief outlines the primary findings of and new additions to the section of the BJS website about homicide patterns and trends since 1976. Homicide is of interest not only because of its severity but also because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime. At a national level, no other crime is measured as accurately and precisely. Topics covered include long term trends, demographic trends, multiple victims and offenders, infanticide, eldercide, homicides by intimates, law enforcement officers killed, weapons trends, regional trends, and trends by city size. The data analyzed are from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program particularly the Supplementary Homicide Reports.