U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin National Crime Victimization Survey Criminal Victimization, 2009 October 2010 NCJ 231327 Jennifer L. Truman, Ph.D. Michael R. Rand BJS Statistician ------------------------------------------------------------- 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://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2217 Report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&lid=6 ------------------------------------------------------------- In 2009, U.S. residents age 12 or older experienced an estimated 20 million violent and property victimizations, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). These criminal victimizations included an estimated 4.3 million violent crimes, 15.6 million property crimes, and 133,000 personal thefts. Rates of violent and property crime in 2009 were at the lowest overall levels recorded since the survey's inception in 1972. The overall victimization rate for violent crimes declined from 19.3 to 17.1 victimizations per 1,000 persons between 2008 and 2009 (table 1). A decline in simple assault (down 13%) contributed to the overall decline in the violent crime rate during this period. Due to a decline in the rate of theft (down 6%), the overall property crime rate also declined between 2008 and 2009. Rates for every type of violent and property crime measured by the NCVS declined from 2000 to 2009. During the 10-year period, the violent crime rate declined by 39% and the property crime rate decreased by 29%. Declines ranged from 57% for rape or sexual assault to 19% for household burglary among the individual types of crimes. ----------------------------------------------------------- Highlights *An estimated 4.3 million violent crimes, 15.6 million property crimes, and 133,000 personal thefts were committed against U.S. residents age 12 or older in 2009. *Rates of violent (down 39%) and property (down 29%) crimes decreased between 2000 and 2009. *The overall rate of firearm violence declined from 2.4 to 1.4 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older between 2000 and 2009. *Armed offenders committed 22% of all violent crime incidents in 2009,including 8% by offenders with a firearm. *Violence against males, blacks, and persons age 24 or younger occurred at higher or somewhat higher rates than the rates of violence against females, whites, and persons age 25 or older in 2009. *Females knew their offenders in almost 70% of violent crimes committed against them; males knew their offenders in 45% of violent crimes committed against them. *About half (49%) of all violent crimes and about 40% of all property crimes were reported to the police in 2009. Violent crimes against females (53%) were more likely to be reported than violent crimes against males (45%). ------------------------------------------------------------- The 2008 to 2009 year-to-year decline in violent and property crimes was consistent with findings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI)Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, which found declines in the rates of both violent (down 6.1%) and property crimes (down 5.5%) reported to the police. Because the NCVS and UCR measure an overlapping but not identical set of offenses and use different methodologies, exact congruity between the estimates cannot be expected. Both programs have generally demonstrated similar year-to-year increases or decreases in the levels of violent and property crimes during the survey's 38-year history. A major difference between the programs is the type of data collected. The NCVS obtains estimates of both crimes reported and those not reported to the police. The UCR collects data on reported crimes only. According to victims interviewed for the NCVS, 49% of violent crimes and 39% of property crimes were reported to the police in 2009. (For additional information about the differences and similarities between the NCVS and UCR, see the Nation's Two Crime Measures, BJS Web, May 2003.) 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 national 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. Information on homicide presented in this report was obtained from the FBI's UCR program. 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, which includes pocket picking and purse snatching. In 2009, 38,728 households and 68,665 individuals age 12 and older were interviewed for the NCVS. Each household was interviewed twice during the year. The response rate was 91.8% of households and 87.0% of eligible individuals. Violent and property crime rates remain at historic lows in 2009 The rate of every major violent and property crime measured by the NCVS declined between 2000 and 2009 (table 2, figure 1).***Footnote 1: The discussion of victimization rate trends excludes NCVS estimates for 2006 because of the methodological inconsistencies between the data for that year and other years. See Methodology and Criminal Victimization, 2006 Technical Notes, BJS Web, December 2007*** The overall violent crime rate has decreased since 1994, a trend that continued through 2009 (down 39%). Violent crime rates had remained generally stable between 2003 and 2007 and declined from 2007 to 2009. During the 10-year period from 2000 to 2009, trends in the rates of victimization varied by the type of crime. The rate of rape or sexual assault remained generally stable from 2000 to 2007 before declining between 2007 and 2009 (table 3). Rates of robbery fell in the first 5-year period between 2000 and 2004 and remained stable for the second period. Rates for both aggravated assault and simple assault fell between 2000 and 2009. The trend in a declining rate of overall property crime that began in 1974 continued through 2009. The rate of overall property crime fell by 29% during the 10-year period (figure 2). Rates of burglary declined from 2000 to 2002 and remained generally stable between 2002 and 2009. The rate for property theft fell in both the first and second half of the 10-year period, with a greater decline from 2005 to 2009 than from 2000 to 2004. Rates of motor vehicle theft remained generally stable between 2000 and 2007, and fell in 2008. There was no change in the rate of motor vehicle theft from 2008 to 2009. ------------------------------------------------------------- Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports, 2008-2009 Violent crime as measured by the FBI through the Uniform Crime Reporting Program (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 measures crimes reported to the police against both persons and businesses. For information about the differences and similarities of the NCVS and UCR, see the Nation's Two Crime Measures, BJS Web, May 2003. According to results released by the FBI, the rates of violent crimes reported to police as measured by the UCR declined by 6.1% between 2008 and 2009 (table 4). The rates of property crimes reported to police declined by 5.5% between 2008 and 2009. The UCR reported declines in the numbers of every crime measured. ------------------------------------------------------------- Victim characteristics in 2009 remained similar to those in previous years Similar to previous NCVS findings, males, blacks, and persons age 24 or younger continued to be victimized at higher or somewhat higher rates than females, whites, and persons age 25 or older (table 5). (See statistical differences defined in Methodology.) Gender of victim Males were victims of violent crime at rates slightly higher than females, indicating a continuing convergence of male and female victimization. Differences between male and female rates of simple assault were not statistically significant in 2009. This has occurred twice since 2000, in 2001 and 2007. Consistent with previous years, males experienced higher rates of robbery and aggravated assault than females. Females were more likely than males to be victims of rape or sexual assault. Race of victim Blacks were more likely than whites to be victims of overall violent crime, robbery, and aggravated assault, and somewhat more likely than whites to be victims of rape or sexual assault. Blacks also experienced higher rates than persons of other races (American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander) of overall violence, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Persons of two or more races were victims of overall violent crime at higher rates than whites and persons of other races, and somewhat higher rates than blacks. Hispanic origin of victim In 2009, Hispanics and non-Hispanics were equally likely to experience overall violent crime, rape or sexual assault, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Similar to NCVS findings for previous years, Hispanics were victims of robbery at rates higher than those of non-Hispanics. Age of victim Overall victimization rates for violent crime declined with victim age in 2009, a finding consistent with previous years. Generally, persons age 25 or older experienced violent victimization at lower rates than younger persons. Persons ages 12 to 15 experienced simple assault at rates higher than persons age 20 or older, and slightly higher rates than persons ages 16 to 19. Lower income households and larger households experienced higher property crime rates Lower income households experienced property crime at higher rates than higher income households. In general, lower income households had higher rates of overall property crime and household burglary, compared to higher income households (table 6). Households in the lowest income category--less than $7,500 per year--had the highest overall property crime rate, and were victims of property crime at a rate that was about 1.6 times higher than households earning $75,000 per year or more. Household burglary, property theft, and motor vehicle theft rates varied across income categories. Burglary rates of households in the lowest income category were about 3 times higher than households earning $75,000 per year or more. Households earning less than $7,500 per year were more likely to experience property theft than households in all other income categories. Rates of motor vehicle theft were higher for households earning $35,000 to $49,999 per year than households earning $50,000 per year or more. Consistent with previous years of the NCVS, larger households experienced property crime at higher rates than smaller households in 2009. Overall property crime rates were greater for larger households compared to smaller households. For property theft and motor vehicle theft, patterns across households of different sizes were similar to that of overall property crime. Households with six or more persons experienced more overall property crime, household burglary, motor vehicle theft, and property theft than smaller households. Households with six or more persons were about 3 times more likely to be victims of property crime than single person households. Victims knew the offenders in 45% of violent crimes against men and 68% of violent crimes against women in 2009 Females have generally been most often victimized by someone they knew, while males have been more likely or equally likely to be victimized by a stranger. This pattern continued during 2009 (table 7). Females knew their offenders in almost 70% of violent crimes committed against them. Females who were victims of violence were more likely to be victimized by someone they knew (a nonstranger) than a stranger for all measured violent crimes, except robbery. The percentages of overall violence, rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault committed by strangers were higher for males than for females. Male victims of overall violent crime were slightly more likely to have been victimized by strangers than by nonstrangers. For rape or sexual assault and robbery, males were more likely to have been victimized by strangers than nonstrangers. Offenders known to both male and female victims were most often identified as friends or acquaintances. For overall violent crime and assault, males and females were equally likely to have been victimized by an acquaintance. For rape or sexual assault, females were more likely than males to have been victimized by an acquaintance. For robbery, males were more likely than females to have been victimized by an acquaintance. The greatest difference between violent crime committed against males and females was the percentage committed by intimate partners. The NCVS defines intimate partners as current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends. The percentage of female victims (26%) of intimate partner violence was about 5 times that of male victims (5%). There were no significant differences in the numbers and rates of intimate partner victimizations for males and females from 2008 to 2009 (table 8). Weapons were used in 22% of all violent crimes in 2009 For overall violent crime, firearms, knives, and other weapons were used in about equal proportions (table 9). Robbery (47%) was the most likely offense to involve an armed offender. Firearms were the most often used weapon in robberies (28%). Between 2000 and 2009, the overall rate of firearm violence declined from 2.4 to 1.4 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older (table 10). Firearms were used in about 8% of all violent crime incidents in 2009. During the 10-year period, about 6% to 9% of all violent crime incidents were committed with firearms (not shown in table). Nearly half of all violent crimes and about 40% of all property crimes were reported to the police in 2009 During 2009, a greater percentage of violent victimizations (49%) were reported to the police, compared to property crimes (39%) (table 11). The percentage of robberies reported to the police (68%) was somewhat higher than the percentage for aggravated assault (58%), and higher than the percentage for simple assault (42%). For property crimes, motor vehicle theft (85%) was the crime most frequently reported to the police. The percentage of violent crimes reported to the police was generally stable from 2000 to 2009 (figure 3). There was no significant difference between the percentage of violent crimes reported in 2000 (48%) and 2009 (49%). For property crime, the percentage reported to the police varied during the 10-year period. The percentage of property crimes reported to the police in 2009 (39%) was higher than the percentage reported in 2000 (36%), and somewhat higher than those reported in 2001 (37%) and 2007 (37%). In 2009, violent crimes against females (53%) were more likely to be reported than violent crimes against males (45%) (table 12). Overall, violent crimes against blacks were slightly more likely to be reported than violent crimes against whites (not shown in table). The percentage of violent crimes reported to the police did not differ for males or females in different racial groups. Violent crimes against black females were more likely to be reported to the police than those against white males, and slightly more likely than those against males of other races. For both males and females, there were no differences among Hispanics and non-Hispanics in the likelihood of reporting violent crime to the police. The percentage of property crimes reported to the police for households headed by males and those headed by females did not differ. For households that had a white or black male head of household, property crimes were more likely to be reported than property crimes against households headed by males of other races. Reporting did not differ by racial group for households that had a female head of household. No difference emerged in the percentage of property crimes reported between Hispanic and non-Hispanic households, regardless of whether the head of household was male or female. Rates of violent crimes reported to the police remained stable, and rates of property crime reported to the police declined between 2008 and 2009 There was no statistical difference between the 2008 and 2009 rates of violent crimes reported to the police (table 13). The rate of property crimes reported to the police declined from 2008 to 2009 due to a decline in the rate of theft reported to the police. 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. The survey results presented in this report are based on data gathered from residents living throughout the United States, including persons living in group quarters, such as dormitories, rooming houses, and religious group dwellings. Armed Forces personnel living in military barracks and institutionalized persons, such as correctional facility inmates, were not included in the scope of this survey. 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-except under certain specific conditions. Proxy interviews accounted for about 3% of all NCVS interviews in 2009. 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 in Criminal Victimization in the United States, Statistical Tables, BJS Web, March 2010. Methodological changes to the NCVS in 2006 As discussed in the previous editions in this bulletin series, Criminal Victimization, 2006 and Criminal Victimization, 2007, methodological changes implemented in 2006 impacted the estimates for that year to an extent that they were considered to be not comparable to those of previous years. Evaluation of 2007 and later data from the NCVS conducted by BJS and the Census Bureau have found a high degree of confidence that estimates for these years are consistent with and comparable to those for 2005 and previous years. For this reason, discussion of trends in the rates of crime in this report excludes 2006. BJS and the Census Bureau continue to examine the impact of the methodological changes on survey estimates. The reports, Criminal Victimization, 2006 (December 2007), Criminal Victimization, 2007 (December 2008), Criminal Victimization, 2008 (September 2009), are available on the BJS Website at . Statistical differences defined BJS tested the comparisons between the percentages and rates for Criminal Victimization, 2009 to determine if observed differences were statistically significant. 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. Change in the rape/sexual assault rate for 2008 to 2009 While the change in the rape/sexual assault rate for 2008 to 2009 is significantly different at the 90%-confidence level, care should be taken in interpreting this change because the estimates of rape/sexual assault are based on a small number of cases reported to the survey. Therefore, small absolute changes and fluctuations in the rates of victimization can result in large year-to-year percent change estimates. For 2009, the estimate of rape/sexual assault is based on 36 unweighted cases compared to 56 unweighted cases in 2008. The measurement of rape and sexual assault represents one of the most serious challenges in the field of victimization research. Rape and sexual assault remain sensitive subjects that are difficult to ask about in the survey context. As part of the on-going redesign of the NCVS, BJS is exploring methods for improving the reporting of these crimes. ---------------------------------------------------------- The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. James P. Lynch is director. This Bulletin was written by Jennifer L.Truman, PhD and Michael R. Rand. Matthew Durose verified the report. Georgette Walsh and Jill Duncan edited the report, Barbara Quinn produced the report, and Jayne Robinson prepared the report for final printing under the supervision of Doris J. James. October 2010, NCJ 231327 ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- This report in portable document format and in ASCII and its related statistical data and tables are available at the BJS World Wide Web Internet site: ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Office of Justice Programs Innovation * Partnerships * Safer Neighborhoods http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov ------------------------------------------------------------- 10/07/2010/TLD/12:10 pm