Murder Victims--Circumstances and Weapons Used or Cause of Death statistics



Characteristic	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998


Murders, total ...........................................	21,860	20,053	19,485	18,673	17,260	17,545	19,257	17,963	17,971	18,954	20,273	21,676	22,716	23,180	22,084	20,232	16,967	15,836	14,209

Percent distribution...........................	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

CIRCUMSTANCES

Felonies, total .....................................	17.7	17.2	17.7	18.0	18.1	17.9	19.4	19.6	19.0	21.4	20.8	21.4	21.6	19.2	18.4	17.7	18.8	18.7	17.7
Robbery .............................................	10.8	10.4	10.7	10.6	9.3	9.2	9.5	9.3	8.3	9.1	9.2	10.3	10.0	9.9	9.4	9.3	9.5	9.5	8.7
Narcotics .........................................	1.7	1.8	1.8	2.0	2.7	2.9	3.9	4.9	5.6	7.4	6.7	6.2	5.7	5.6	5.6	5.1	5.0	5.1	4.8
Sex offenses .....................................	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.4	1.2	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.6	0.6	0.7
Other felonies ...................................	3.7	3.6	3.7	3.9	4.5	4.3	4.4	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.7	4.0	5.6	3.5	3.2	3.2	3.7	3.5	3.4
Suspected felonies ...........................	6.7	5.5	5.2	3.2	2.4	2.0	2.0	1.1	1.3	0.8	0.7	1.0	1.2	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.4	1.0	0.7
Argument, total ........................................	39.9	38.1	36.9	39.6	39.8	39.3	37.5	36.8	34.5	35.2	34.4	32.0	33.5	33.9	32.3	31.2	31.0	31.2	31.9
Property or money...........................	2.6	3.0	3.2	2.8	2.7	2.7	2.4	2.6	2.7	2.9	2.5	2.4	2.1	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.9	1.8	1.7
Romantic triangle ...........................	2.3	2.5	2.4	2.6	2.4	2.3	2.1	2.0	1.7	2.0	2.0	1.4	1.5	1.9	1.7	1.4	1.1	1.1	1.3
Other arguments ...........................	35.0	32.5	31.3	34.1	34.8	34.3	32.9	32.1	30.1	30.3	29.8	28.2	29.9	30.1	28.8	28.2	27.8	28.3	29.0
Other motives ..................................	20.6	21.2	20.7	18.3	17.4	18.1	18.6	17.6	18.9	19.0	19.4	19.7	16.0	18.8	20.7	21.6	19.8	17.2	18.7
Unknown ..............................................	15.1	17.8	19.6	20.9	22.3	22.8	22.5	24.9	26.3	23.7	24.8	25.9	27.6	27.5	28.0	28.9	30.1	31.9	30.9

TYPE OF WEAPON
OR CAUSE OF DEATH

Guns....................................................	62.4	62.4	60.2	58.3	59.0	58.7	59.1	59.1	60.6	62.4	64.3	66.3	68.2	69.6	70.0	68.2	67.5	67.7	64.9
Handguns ........................................	45.8	45.3	43.5	43.9	43.8	43.0	43.9	43.7	45.3	47.6	49.8	53.0	55.4	57.0	57.8	55.8	54.6	53.3	52.1
Cutting or stabbing ...........................	19.3	19.4	20.9	21.8	21.2	21.1	20.5	20.3	19.2	18.2	17.4	15.8	14.5	12.8	12.7	12.6	13.7	13.0	13.3
Blunt objects ¹......................................	5.0	5.2	4.9	5.7	5.8	5.5	5.7	5.8	6.3	6.0	5.4	5.1	4.6	4.4	4.1	4.5	4.7	4.6	5.3
Personal weapons ²...........................	5.9	5.6	6.7	6.9	6.6	6.7	6.8	6.5	6.1	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.0	5.0	5.3	5.9	6.1	6.4	6.7
Strangulations,
asphyxiations.....................................	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.7	2.5	2.4	2.6	2.6	2.2	2.5	2.0	2.0	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8	2.0	2.0	2.2
Fire .....................................................	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.2	1.1	1.4	1.2	1.1	1.4	1.2	1.4	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.8	1.0	0.9	0.9
All other ³ ..........................................	3.8	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.8	4.2	4.1	4.6	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.3	5.0	5.4	5.2	6.1	5.0	5.3	6.7

1 Refers to club, hammer, etc.
2 Hands, fists, feet, etc.
3 Includes poison, drowning, explosives, narcotics, and other weapons (not listed) or weapons not stated.

Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States, annual.

http://WWW.fbi.GOV/ucr/ucr.htm

*

Uniform Crime Reports

The FBIs UCR Program, which began in 1929, collectsinformation on the following crimes reported to law enforcementauthorities: homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravatedassault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.Arrests are reported for 21 additional crime categories.The UCR data are compiled from monthly law enforcementreports or individual crime incident records transmitted directlyto the FBI or to centralized state agencies that then report tothe FBI. Each report submitted to the UCR Program is examinedthoroughly for reasonableness, accuracy, and deviationsthat may indicate errors. Large variations in crime levels mayindicate modified records procedures, incomplete reporting, orchanges in a jurisdictions boundaries. To identify any unusualfluctuations in an agencys crime counts, monthly reports arecompared with previous submissions of the agency and withthose for similar agencies.

In 1995, law enforcement agencies active in the UCRProgram represented approximately 251 million United Statesinhabitants95 percent of the U.S. population.The UCR Program provides crime counts for the Nation asa whole, as well as for regions, states, counties, cities, and towns.This permits studies among neighboring jurisdictions andamong those with similar populations and other common characteristics.UCR findings for each calendar year are published in apreliminary release in the spring, followed by a detailed annualreport, Crime in the United States, issued in the followingcalendar year. In addition to crime counts and trends, this reportincludes data on crimes cleared, persons arrested (age, sex,and race), law enforcement personnel (including the numberof sworn officers killed or assaulted), and the characteristics ofhomicides (including age, sex, and race of victims and offenders,victim-offender relationships, weapons used, and circum-stancessurrounding the homicides). Other special reports arealso available from the UCR Program.*The Crime Index

The following offenses and attempts to commit these offenses are used in compiling the Crime Index: (1) murder andnonnegligent manslaughter, (2) forcible rape, (3) robbery, (4) aggravated assault, (5) burglary, (6) larceny-theft, (7) motorvehicle theft, and (8) arson. Arson was added as the eighth index offense in October 1978. (Manslaughter by negligence andsimple or minor assaults are not included in the Crime Index.)

Offenses in the UCR program are divided into two groupings, Part I and Part II. Information on the volume of Part I offensesknown to law enforcement, those cleared by arrest or exceptional means, and the number of persons arrested is reportedmonthly. Only arrest data are reported for Part II offenses.

Part I offenses

Criminal homicide-- a. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter: the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being byanother. Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides areexcluded. Justifiable homicides are limited to: (1) the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty and (2)the killing of a felon by a private citizen. b. Manslaughter by negligence: the killing of another person through gross negligence.Traffic fatalities are excluded. While manslaughter by negligence is a Part I crime, it is not included in the Crime Index.

*

https://allcountries.org/uscensus/333_murder_victims_circumstances_and_weapons_used.html

These tables are based on figures supplied by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce and are subject to revision by the Census Bureau.

Copyright � 2019 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.

333. Murder Victims--Circumstances and Weapons Used or Cause of Death