NCJ Number
160821
Date Published
1995
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes data on violent crime in Wisconsin over the past 10 years.
Abstract
Violent crime is defined by the Uniform Crime Reporting System as "the four index offenses involving face-to-face confrontation between victim and perpetrator... These are murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault." The statistics and information provided addresses total offenses, offense rates, geographic distribution of violent crime offense rates, arrest trends, clearance rate trends, offense circumstances/characteristics, and violent crime in Wisconsin for the first 6 months of 1995. During the past 10 years, violent offenses have continued to increase substantially. In 1985 there were 9,912 violent crimes reported, and in 1994 the number of violent offenses reached 13,725. Although the number of violent crimes in Wisconsin decreased from 1986 through 1988, the number have increased from 1985 to 1994. During the decade, the total number of violent crime arrests increased by 72.2 percent. Violent crime arrests and arrest rates for adults and juveniles separately also increased. Although the arrest rates for the State increased substantially, the clearance rates for total violent crime decreased slightly during the 10-year period. In nearly 80 percent of the 1994 murder and forcible rape cases, the victim and the offender knew each other. Although firearms were the most often used type of weapon in 1994 murder and robbery incidents, personal weapons (hands/fists) were used most often in aggravated assault. In the first half of 1995, violent crime arrests increased by 6.1 percent, and the clearance rate increased from 55.7 percent in the first half of 1994 to 60.7 percent in the first half of 1995. 1 table and 12 graphs