The survey measures selected household and personal offenses, including those not reported to the police. During 1986, interviews were conducted at 6-month intervals with some 101,000 persons. Victimizations for violent crimes declined about 6 percent to a new low, while the victimization rate for assault dropped about 8 percent. Robbery and theft rates also were down, while there were no measurable changes in rates for rape and personal larceny with contact. Household crimes generally remained stable. These included household larceny, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. Overall, 37 percent of all victimizations in 1986 were reported to police, a 4-percent increase over the 1985 rate. The 1986 reporting rates did not change measurably for any of the individual crimes measured, although the overall reporting rate for household crimes increased in 1985. 4 tables and 3 figures.
Criminal Victimization, 1986
NCJ Number
106989
Date Published
October 1987
Publication Series
Annotation
Criminal victimizations in the United States dropped by nearly 750,000 to about 34.1 million in 1986 for persons aged 12 and older. This 2-percent decline in overall crime continued a trend that has reduced criminal victimizations to their lowest level in the 14-year history of this survey, about 18 percent below the 41.5 million victimizations in the peak year of 1981.
Abstract
Date Published: October 1, 1987