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, collects information on the following crimes reported to law enforcement authorities: homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Arrests are reported for 21 additional crime categories. The UCR data are compiled from monthly law enforcement reports or individual crime incident records transmitted directly to the FBI or to centralized state agencies that then report to the FBI. Each report submitted to the UCR Program is examined thoroughly for reasonableness, accuracy, and deviations that may indicate errors. Large variations in crime levels may indicate modified records procedures, incomplete reporting, or changes in a jurisdictions boundaries. To identify any unusual fluctuations in an agencys crime counts, monthly reports are compared with previous submissions of the agency and with those for similar agencies.

In 1995, law enforcement agencies active in the UCR Program represented approximately 251 million United States inhabitants95 percent of the U.S. population. The UCR Program provides crime counts for the Nation as a whole, as well as for regions, states, counties, cities, and towns. This permits studies among neighboring jurisdictions and among those with similar populations and other common characteristics. UCR findings for each calendar year are published in a preliminary release in the spring, followed by a detailed annual report, Crime in the United States, issued in the following calendar year. In addition to crime counts and trends, this report includes data on crimes cleared, persons arrested (age, sex, and race), law enforcement personnel (including the number of sworn officers killed or assaulted), and the characteristics of homicides (including age, sex, and race of victims and offenders, victim-offender relationships, weapons used, and circum-stances surrounding the homicides). Other special reports are also 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 and nonnegligent manslaughter, (2) forcible rape, (3) robbery, (4) aggravated assault, (5) burglary, (6) larceny-theft, (7) motor vehicle theft, and (8) arson. Arson was added as the eighth index offense in October 1978. (Manslaughter by negligence and simple 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 offenses known to law enforcement, those cleared by arrest or exceptional means, and the number of persons arrested is reported monthly. 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 by another. Deaths caused by negligence, attempts to kill, assaults to kill, suicides, accidental deaths, and justifiable homicides are excluded. 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.

*

http://www.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 © 2006 Photius Coutsoukis and Information Technology Associates, all rights reserved.