NCJ Number
44697
Date Published
1977
Length
96 pages
Annotation
BASELINE DATA DESCRIBING VICTIMIZATION RATES AND PERCEPTIONS OF CRIME AND LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN THE CITIES OF JOLIET AND PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ARE PRESENTED.
Abstract
PERSONAL VICTIMIZATIONS CONSIDERED WERE ROBBERY AND ASSAULT; HOUSEHOLD VICTIMIZATIONS WERE BURGLARY AND LARCENY. THE DATA WERE OBTAINED IN TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS WITH ABOUT 10,000 RANDOMLY SELECTED RESIDENTS OF THE TWO CITIES AND REFLECT VICTIMIZATIONS OCCURRING FROM MAY THROUGH OCTOBER 1976. VICTIMIZATION RATES ARE GENERALLY COMPARABLE TO THOSE FOUND IN NATIONAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS AND DO NOT DIFFER APPRECIABLY BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES. IN THE ASSAULT CATEGORY, BOTH CITIES EXHIBIT SOMEWHAT HIGHER RATES THAN APPEAR IN THE NATIONAL ESTIMATES. IN PARTICULAR, BLACKS AND INDIVIDUALS FROM LOWER-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE VICTIMS OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. IN BOTH CITIES, MORE THAN 1 OF 8 HOUSEHOLDS WAS VICTIMIZED BY BURGLARY OR LARCENY DURING THE 6-MONTH TIME PERIOD. OVERALL, A LITTLE MORE THAN HALF OF THE RESPONDENTS WHO EXPERIENCED A VICTIMIZATION INDICATED THAT THE INCIDENT CAME TO THE ATTENTION OF THE POLICE. COMBINING ROBBERY AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, TWO-THIRDS OF THE VICTIMS INDICATED THAT THE CRIME WAS REPORTED. FOR BURGLARY, THERE IS A SLIGHT DROP TO 60 PERCENT, AND THE REPORTING RATE IS 50 PERCENT FOR LARCENY. IN GENERAL, JOLIET AND PEORIA RESIDENTS REPORT CRIMES MORE FREQUENTLY THAN DOES THE NATION AS A WHOLE, WITH JOLIET EXHIBITING A SLIGHTLY HIGHER RATE IN MOST CATEGORIES. IN BOTH CITIES, ABOUT HALF OF THE RESPONDENTS SAID THEY FELT THAT NEIGHBORHOOD POLICE PROTECTION WAS GOOD, AND OVER 60 PERCENT INDICATED THAT CRIME IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS NOT A PROBLEM FOR THEM. FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT IN JOLIET AND SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT IN PEORIA INDICATED THAT THEY FELT VERY SAFE ALONE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD AT NIGHT. OF THOSE WHO HAD NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS, BLACKS EXPRESSED GREATER DISSATISFACTION THAN WHITES ON EVERY ITEM. THE ELDERLY IN BOTH CITIES WERE MORE FEARFUL OF CRIME THAN OTHER AGE GROUPS, DESPITE THEIR RELATIVELY LOW VICTIMIZATION RATES. APPENDIXES CONTAIN METHODOLOGY, SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES, WEIGHTED FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSES, AND CONFIDENCE INTERVALS FOR VICTIMIZATION RATES. SUPPORTING TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED).