Violent crimes steadily decline

America is getting safer, according to new statistics released earlier this week.

The study, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, surveys crime victims 12 years and older to determine the frequency of violent and property crimes in the nation. Both types of crime have decreased significantly in the last 30 years.

Between 1993 and 2004, violent crime - including rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault - decreased by 57 percent, from 11 million occurring in 1993 to 5.2 million in 2004.

The crime rate in North Carolina has followed the national trend, with a 17.7 percent decrease in violent crime since 1995 and a 3.6 percent decrease in property crime.

Tod Burke, professor of criminal justice at Radford University and a former Maryland police officer, said economic factors such as low unemployment rates, prison sentencing, community policing and aging of former criminals all have played a role in the declining crime rates.

"You're not going to see a 60- year-old out there (committing a crime)," he said. "He's going to be hitting people with his bedpan."

Though studies show that crime rates are decreasing, many factors lead to inaccurate statistics, experts say.

Burke said the shift of crime from urban centers to the suburbs means that many crimes committed could remain unseen.

"We don't really know our neighbors," he said.

While in rural areas it is easier to recognize new faces, crimes are harder to detect because people are more isolated, Burke said. People often choose to take what he calls "the ostrich approach," meaning they deny the danger around them.

"(Everyone likes to think) these things don't happen in the suburbs." he said.

He said that crime also has increased among white, computer-savvy individuals and that these crimes often are not reported.

Computers make criminal activity possible for older members of society who normally might be deterred from committing crimes because of the physical strain.

Gary Perlstein, professor of criminology and criminal justice at Portland State University, also said reasons for crime decrease can be difficult to pinpoint.

He said crime rate statistics can be inaccurate due to errors made by police agencies. Different ways of labeling crimes also presents a problem in gathering data.

Crimes not reported, such as rape, also can make for misleading statistics, Perlstein said.

But according to the study, crime reporting actually has increased from 43 percent to 50 percent for violent crimes and from 34 percent to 39 percent for property crimes.

Burke said crime rates could increase temporarily as a result of the displacement of many Hurricane Katrina victims.

This large population of suddenly desperate people, some with criminal records that now cannot be tracked, might cause an increase in crimes such as robberies, burglaries and carjackings, he said.

Burke predicts the increase will be greater in certain areas, such as Texas, where many Katrina victims were relocated.

He said crime rates might be driven up, at least for the short term, because the evacuees are left with nothing and could see crime as their only option for survival.

"These people are displaced. Their whole lives are gone."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.