Criminal Victimization, 2019

"This report is the 47th in a series that began in 1973. It provides official estimates of criminal victimizations reported and not reported to police from BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). It describes the characteristics of crimes, victims, and offenders. In addition, this year, BJS provides new classifications of urban, suburban, and rural areas, with the goal of presenting a more accurate picture of where criminal victimizations occur.

Highlights:

• The rate of violent crime excluding simple assault declined 15% from 2018 to 2019, from 8.6 to 7.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older.
• Among females, the rate of violent victimization excluding simple assault fell 27% from 2018 to 2019.
• There were 880,000 fewer victims of serious crimes (generally felonies) in 2019 than in 2018, a 19% drop.
• From 2018 to 2019, 29% fewer black persons and 22% fewer white persons were victims of serious crimes.
• The rate of violent victimization in urban areas—based on the NCVS's new classifications of urban, suburban, and rural areas—declined 20% from 2018 to 2019.

Part of the Criminal Victimization Series

Press Release (30K)
Summary (PDF 197K)
Full report (PDF 1.4K)
Data tables (Zip format 78K).."
Criminal victimization 

Criminal Victimization, 2016

"Presents national data on criminal victimization reported and not reported to police in 2016, including the characteristics of crimes and victims and outcomes of victimization. The report examines violent crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) and property crimes (household burglary, motor vehicle theft, and theft). It also includes data on domestic violence, intimate partner violence, injury to victims, and weapon use. Data are from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households on nonfatal crimes, reported and not reported to the police, against persons age 12 or older. During 2016, about 134,690 households and 224,520 persons were interviewed for the NCVS. 

Highlights:

• In 2016, U.S. residents age 12 or older experienced 5.7 million violent victimizations—a rate of 21.1 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older.
• The rate of stranger violence (8.2 per 1,000 persons) was higher than the rate of intimate partner violence (2.2 per 1,000).
• In 2016, U.S. households experienced 15.9 million property crimes—a rate of 119.4 per 1,000 households.
• Motor vehicle thefts (80%) were the most likely of all crime types to be reported to police.
• In 2016, a total of 1.3% of all persons age 12 or older experienced one or more violent victimizations..."

Crime Victimization

Victimization During Household Burglary
"Presents findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) on the characteristics of burglary, with comparisons between households where members were present and not present. It also examines the extent to which individuals in the residence are violently victimized when at home during these encounters. The NCVS classifies victimization as personal, rather than property crime, when a household member is present and experiences violence during a household burglary. This report classifies these violent burglaries differently so that they may be compared to traditionally classified burglaries. It also discusses crime characteristics such as household structure, location and type of residence, method of entry, time of day, type of violence, weapon use, injury, and reporting to police. Data on nonfatal violent victimization (rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault) are drawn from the NCVS. Data on homicides are drawn from the Supplementary Homicide Report of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Highlights include the following:

An estimated 3.7 million burglaries occurred each year on average from 2003 to 2007.
Offenders were known to their victims in 65% of violent burglaries; offenders were strangers in 28%.
Serious injury accounted for 9% and minor injury accounted for 36% of injuries sustained by household members who were home and experienced violence during a completed burglary."

Criminal Victimization, 2007
"Presents estimates of rates and levels of personal and property victimization for 2007 and describes the substantial fluctuations in the survey measures of the crime rates from 2005 through 2007. These changes do not appear to be due to changes in the rate of criminal activity during this period, but rather to changes in the sample design and implementation of the survey. BJS and the Census Bureau are continuing to research the impact of the changes, and readers should focus on the comparisons of the 2005 and 2007 rates until these issues are resolved. A technical report discussing these issues is expected later in the year. The estimates are drawn from the NCVS, an ongoing survey of households that interviewed about 73,600 persons in 41,500 households, two times in 2007. The report includes data on violent crimes (rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault), property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft and property theft), and personal theft (pocket picking and purse snatching), and the characteristics of victims of these crimes."

Student Victimization in U.S. Public Schools: Results from the 2005 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey
"This report provides estimates of student victimization as defined by the 2005 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). NCVS is the nation’s primary source of information on crime victimization and the victims of crime in the United States and the SCS is a supplement to NCVS that was created to collect information about school-related victimization on a national level. This report incorporates findings from student respondents ages 12-18 in grades 6-12 that were interviewed during the 2005 school year. It shows that student victims of crime are more likely to report conditions of an unfavorable school climate, security measures at school, and exhibit fear and avoidance behaviors. Additional topics covered in this report include the prevalence and
type of student victimization at school and selected characteristics of victims, including their demographic characteristics and school type; and victim and nonvictim reports of the presence of gangs and weapons and the availability of
drugs."