U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin National Crime Victimization Survey Criminal Victimization, 2008 September 2, 2009 NCJ 227777 --------------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.csv) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available from: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract /cv08.htm. This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#cvus. --------------------------------------------------------------- Michael R. Rand BJS Statistician Violent and property crime rates in 2008 were at or near their lowest levels in over three decades, according to findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The violent crime rate in 2008—19.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or over—was statistically unchanged from the previous year’s estimate of 20.7 per 1,000 persons. The property crime rate of 135 victimizations per 1,000 households was lower than the rate of 147 per 1,000 households in 2007. There was no statistical difference between the 2007 and 2008 crime rates for any crime of violence. Overall in 2008, U.S. residents experienced 4.9 million violent crimes (rape/sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault) and 16.3 million property crimes (household burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft) (table 1). Declines in both motor vehicle theft (-20%) and theft (-9%) contributed to the overall decline in the property crime rate between 2007 and 2008. Violent and property crime rates, including the rate of every type of violent and property crime measured by the NCVS, declined from 1999 to 2008. The violent crime rate declined by 41% and the property crime rate fell by 32% over the 10-year period. Declines ranged from 23% for household burglary to 53% for rape or sexual assault. NCVS year-to-year findings between 2007 and 2008 are consistent with the preliminary findings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. NCVS findings show a nominal, but not statistically significant, decline in the number of violent crimes and a significant decline in the number of property crimes. Findings from the UCR program show small declines in the numbers of violent (-2.5%) and property (-1.6%) crimes. Because both programs measure an overlapping but not an identical set of offenses and use different methodologies, exact congruity between NCVS and UCR estimates is not to be expected. Throughout the 37-year history of the NCVS, the programs have generally demonstrated a similar direction in the rise or fall in the year-to-year changes in the levels of violent and property crimes. A major difference between the programs is that the NCVS obtains estimates of both crimes not reported and those reported to the police. The UCR collects data on reported crimes. According to the NCVS, victims reported 47% of violent crimes and 40% of property crimes to the police in 2008. The NCVS collects information from victims of nonfatal violent crimes and property crimes The NCVS collects information on nonfatal crimes, reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. It produces national rates and levels of personal and property victimization, as well as information on the characteristics of crimes and victims and the consequences of victimization to victims. Violent crimes measured by the NCVS include rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Property crimes include household burglary, motor vehicle theft, and theft. The survey also measures personal theft, including pocket picking and purse snatching. In 2008, 42,093 households and 77,852 individuals age 12 and older were interviewed for the NCVS. Each household was interviewed twice during the year. The response rate was 90.4% of households and 86.2% of eligible individuals. Violent and property crime rates remain at historic lows in 2008 The violent crime rate has experienced a number of distinct trends throughout the history of the NCVS. Initially, the rate rose somewhat from 1973 to 1981 and declined until 1986. The rate reached a high in 1994, followed by an extended, sharp decline lasting until 2002. The violent crime rate has remained generally stable since 2004.(Footnote 1: 1Trends in victimization rates exclude NCVS estimates for 2006 because of the methodological inconsistencies between the data for 2006 and other years. See NCVS Methodological Changes in 2006 on page 2 (below) and Criminal Victimization, 2006 Technical Notes at . Trend data for violent crime are available at (last accessed August 17, 2009).) The rate in 2008 was 41% lower than it was 10 years earlier, and 63% below the peak of 51.8 violent crimes per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in 1994 (table 2, figure 1). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NCVS Methodological Changes in 2006 A number of methodological changes were implemented in the NCVS in 2006 that impacted the victimization rate estimates for that year. The changes and their impact upon the survey’s estimates are described in Criminal Victimization 2006 Technical Notes, available online at . Analyses of the 2007 data by BJS and the Census Bureau found that the effects were reversed in 2007, suggesting that the 2006 findings represented a temporary anomaly in the data. For this reason, discussion of trends in this report excludes the estimates for 2006. See Criminal Victimization, 2007 at for a fuller discussion of 2007 estimates. NCVS estimates for 2008 are consistent with and comparable to estimates for 2007, 2005, and previous years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Trends for individual types of violent crime varied from 1999 to 2008. Crime rates for simple assault—the least serious but most prevalent violent crime—and robbery declined in the early part of the 10-year period and remained generally unchanged in the latter part. Rates of aggravated assault declined from 1999 through 2002 and remained stable until 2005. Aggravated assault rates for 2007 and 2008 represent new lows for this type of crime (table 3). The rate of rape committed in the U.S. declined from 1999 to 2000 and has remained stable since 2000. Property crime rates, including the rate for each type of property crime measured by the NCVS, have fallen throughout most of the survey's existence. Overall rates fell from 1999 to 2002 and remained stable until 2004 before declining in 2005. The property crime rate per 1,000 households in 2008 was 76% lower than in 1974—the peak year for the rate of this crime—and 32% lower than in 1999 (figure 2). The rate of burglary declined from 1999 to 2000, remained stable until 2005, and fell in 2007. The rate was unchanged from 2007 to 2008. NCVS findings show that rates of property theft declined in increments during the 10-year period. Property theft decreased from 1999 to 2002, stabilized until 2004, and decreased from 2004 to 2008. Motor vehicle theft remained stable throughout most of the period despite some fluctuation after its initial decline from 1999 to 2000. The motor vehicle theft rate was at its lowest level in 2008. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, 2007-2008 Violent crime as measured by the FBI through the UCR includes murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft. The UCR program measures crimes against both persons and businesses reported to the police. For information about the differences and similarities of the NCVS and UCR, see The Nation’s Two Crime Measures at . According to the preliminary UCR results released by the FBI, the number of violent crimes reported to law enforcement declined by 2.5% between 2007 and 2008. UCR data showed a decline in the number of every crime measured with one exception: burglary increased by 1.3% (text table 1). Text table 1. Percent changes in the number of crimes reported in the UCR, 2007-2008 Crime measured Percent change in the by the UCR number of crimes reported Violent crimes -2.5% Murder -4.4 Forcible rape -2.2 Robbery -1.1 Aggravated -3.2 Property crime -1.6% Burglary 1.3 Larceny theft -0.6 Motor vehicle theft -13.1 Note: See the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report from January to December 2008 for more information (last accessed August 17, 2009). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Victims of violent crimes in 2008 were similar to those in previous years Characteristics of victims of violent crimes measured by the NCVS in 2008 were similar to previous years. Males, blacks, and persons age 24 or younger experienced violent victimizations at higher or somewhat higher rates than females, whites, and persons age 25 or older (table 4). Gender Females were more likely than males to be victims of rape or sexual assault. Males experienced higher rates of victimization than females in all other violent crimes measured by the NCVS. Race With the exception of simple assault, blacks experienced higher rates than whites for every violent crime measured by the NCVS. Blacks also had higher rates than persons of other races (American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander) of overall violence and simple assault, and marginally higher rates of robbery and aggravated assault. In 2008, 1% of the U.S. population self-identified as being of more than one race. Individuals of more than one race experienced violent crime at rates 2 to 3 times higher than whites, blacks, or persons of other races. Hispanic origin Non-Hispanics experienced overall violent crime at a rate somewhat higher than Hispanics in 2008. A higher rate of simple assault for non- Hispanics contributed to this finding. Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanics to be victims of robbery in 2008, a finding consistent with previous years. Age Victimization rates in 2008 for violent crime decreased with age. Generally, for every crime measured by the NCVS, persons age 12 to 24 had the highest rates of victimization; persons age 50 or older had the lowest rates. Juveniles age 12 to 15 experienced higher rates of simple assault than persons age 25 or older, and marginally higher rates than persons age 20 to 24. Lower income households and larger households experienced higher property crime rates In general, an inverse relationship between property crime rates and annual household incomes exists. Lower income households had higher rates of overall property crime, household burglary, and property theft, compared to higher income households in 2008 (table 5). Differences between the property crime rates for households in the lowest and highest income groups were smaller for theft than for burglary. Households in the lowest income group—less than $7,500 per year—experienced property crime rates that were about 1.5 times higher than the rates for households earning $75,000 or more per year; burglary rates were more than 3 times higher. There were no differences between income groups in the rates of motor vehicle theft. In general, property crime rates were directly related to household size in 2008. With three exceptions, larger households experienced higher rates of property crime per 1,000 households than smaller households. Apparent differences in the rates of burglary and motor vehicle theft for households with four or five persons and for those with six persons or more were not statistically significant. In addition, no statistically significant differences were found in the rates of motor vehicle theft between single person households and those with two or three persons. For every type of property crime, households with six persons or more experienced higher victimization rates than smaller households. Victims knew the offenders in about 5 in 10 violent crimes against men and 7 in 10 violent crimes against women The percentage of violent crime committed against males and females by someone they knew (i.e., nonstranger) is driven by assault (table 6). Male victims knew the offenders in half of all aggravated and simple assaults against them. Female victims knew the offenders in approximately 70% of assaults against them. Offenders known to the victims were most often identified as friends or acquaintances, accounting for a similar percentage of violence against male (42%) and female (38%) victims. Strangers were responsible for about a third (36%) of all violent crimes measured by the NCVS in 2008 (not shown in table). The percentages of overall violence, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault committed by strangers were higher for males than for females. Robbery was the crime most likely to be committed by a stranger. Strangers committed 61% of robberies against men and 45% of robberies against women. The greatest disparity between violent crimes committed against males and females in 2008 was in the percentage committed by intimate partners. The NCVS defines intimate partners as current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends. Intimate partners were responsible for 3% of all violence against males and 23% of all violence against females in 2008. From 2007 to 2008, there was no significant difference in the numbers and rates of intimate partner victimizations for males and females (text table 2). Text table 2. Number and rate of intimate partner violence, by victims' gender, 2007 and 2008 2007 2008 Number Rate Number Rate Male 69,100 0.6 88,120 0.7 Female 554,260 4.3 504,980 3.9 Firearms were used in 7% of all violent crimes in 2007 and 2008 An offender was armed with a gun, knife, or other object used as a weapon in an estimated 20% of all incidents of violent crime in 2008 (table 7). By specific weapon type, offenders used about equal percentages of firearms, knives, and other weapons to commit violent crimes overall. Robberies (40%) were the most likely crime to involve an armed offender. Firearms (24%) were the most common weapon used in robberies. Offenders used firearms to commit 7% of all violent crimes in both 1999 and 2008 (text table 3). The rate of firearm violence declined from 2.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in 1999 to 1.4 per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in 2008. The percentage of all incidents of violent crime committed with firearms fluctuated between 6% and 9% during the 10-year period. (See . Last accessed August 17, 2009).). Text table 3. Firearm use in violent crime, 1999 and 2008 1999 2008 Firearm Incidents 457,150 303,880 Victimizations 562,870 343,550 Firearm crime Rate per 1,000 persons age 12 or older 2.5 1.4 Percent of all violent incidents 6.8% 6.6% Nearly half of all violent crimes and 40% of all property crimes were reported to police in 2008 Of the violent offenses measured by the NCVS, robbery (61%) and aggravated assault (62%) were more likely than rape/sexual assault and simple assault (each 41%) to be reported to the police (text table 4). Of the property crimes measured, motor vehicle theft (80%) was the crime most frequently reported to the police in 2008. Text table 4. Percent of crimes reported to police, 2008 Type of crime Percent of crime reported to police, 2008 Violent crime 47.1% Rape/sexual assault 41.4 Robbery 60.5 Aggravated assault 62.0 Simple assault 41.3 Property crime 40.3% Burglary 56.2 Motor vehicle theft 79.6 Theft 33.6 The percentage of violent crime reported to the police fluctuated during the 10-year period from 1999 to 2008 (figure 3). The percentage of violent crime reported in 2008 (47%) was not significantly different from the percentage reported in 1999 (44%). The percentage of property crimes reported to police in 2008 was higher than from 1999 to 2001, and not significantly different from the percentages reported from 2002 to 2005. Percentages reported for 2008 were also higher than those reported in 2007. Violent crimes against females were somewhat more likely to be reported to the police in 2008 than violent crimes against males (table 8). Violent crimes against black females were reported to a greater extent than those against white females or against males of any race, and to a slightly greater extent than those against females of other races. There were no differences in the likelihood of violent crimes against male and female Hispanics or non-Hispanics being reported to the police. Property crimes against households were equally likely to be reported to the police whether the head of household was male or female. For households with a black female head of household, property crimes were more likely or somewhat more likely to be reported than property crimes against all other households. For households with a male head of household, property offenses against non-Hispanics were reported at a somewhat higher rate than those against Hispanics. No differences emerged in the likelihood of property crime being reported between female Hispanic and non-Hispanic heads of households. Methodology The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is an annual data collection conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The NCVS collects information on nonfatal crimes, reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households.| Violent crimes measured by the NCVS include rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Property crimes include household burglary, motor vehicle theft, and theft. Survey results are based on the data gathered from residents living throughout the United States, including persons living in group quarters, such as dormitories, rooming houses, and religious group dwellings. The scope of the survey excluded Armed Forces personnel living in military barracks and persons living in an institutional setting, such as a correctional facility. Each housing unit selected for the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) remains in the sample for 3 years, with each of seven interviews taking place at 6-month intervals. An NCVS field representative’s first contact with a household selected for the survey is in person. The field representative may conduct subsequent interviews by telephone. To elicit more accurate reporting of incidents, the NCVS uses a self- respondent method that requires a direct interview with each person 12 years or older in the household. Annual collection year estimates of the levels and rates of victimization are derived by accumulating estimates quarterly. The weights of all crimes reported during the interviews in that year are summed, regardless of when the crime occurred. The base for the collection year rate for personal crimes is the sum of all person weights. The base for the property crime rates is the sum of all household weights. For more detail, see the Methodology for Criminal Victimization in the United States, Statistical Tables, at . As discussed in Criminal Victimization, 2006 and Criminal Victimization, 2007, methodological changes implemented in 2006 impacted the estimates for that year to an extent that the estimates were not comparable to those of previous years. An evaluation of 2007 and 2008 data from the NCVS conducted by BJS and the Census Bureau found a high degree of confidence that estimates for 2007 and 2008 are consistent with and comparable to those for 2005 and previous years. For this reason, discussion of trends in the rates of crime excludes the 2006 data. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Data from 2006 are included in the discussion of trends in firearms and police reporting because the effects on the 2006 estimates were on the levels and rates of crime and did not impact the distributions across the variables describing the characteristics and consequences of crime. BJS and the Census Bureau continue to examine the impact of the methodological changes on the survey estimates. The reports, Criminal Victimization, 2006 and Criminal Victimization, 2007, are available at and . BJS tested the comparisons between the percentages and rates for Criminal Victimization, 2008, to determine the statistical significance of observed differences. Differences described as higher, lower, or different passed a test at the 0.05 level of statistical significance (95%- confidence level). Differences described as somewhat, slightly, marginally, or some indication passed a test at the 0.10 level of statistical significance (90%-confidence level). Caution is required when comparing estimates not explicitly discussed in this bulletin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael D. Sinclair is Acting Director. BJS Bulletins present the first release of findings from permanent data collection programs. This Bulletin was written by Michael R. Rand. Lauren M. Giordano verified the report. Georgette Walsh and Jill Duncan edited the report. Tina Dorsey and Jayne Robinson produced and prepared the report for final printing, under the supervision of Doris J. James. September 2009, NCJ 227777 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This report in portable document format and in ASCII and its related statistical data are available at the BJS World Wide Web Internet site: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Office of Justice Programs Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov 8/28/09 PMF