??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? BJS
SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2002????? ????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????? ??????????? ?202/307-0784
RATE OF VIOLENT CRIME VICTIMIZATION AMONG
HISPANICS
DROPS MORE THAN 50 PERCENT IN LAST SEVEN
YEARS
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Between 1993 and 2000,
Hispanic residents aged 12 or older experienced a 56 percent decrease in the
number of violent victimizations per capita, from 62.8 violent crimes per 1,000
to 27.9 per 1,000, the Justice Department?s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
announced today.? During the same years,
the violent criminal victimization rate for all U.S. residents aged 12 or older
dropped 51 percent, from 55 per 1,000 to 27, BJS said in a special report on
victims with an Hispanic origin.
Hispanics experienced 11 percent of all
violent crimes committed against U.S. residents during 2000, about the same per
capita rate of victimization as experienced by white residents and about 18
percent lower than black residents.
Hispanics 12 years old and older were the victims of an estimated
690,470 rapes, sexual assaults, robberies and simple and aggravated assaults
that year.?
About six in 10 violent victimizations
affecting Hispanic victims in 2000 were simple assaults, about the same
percentage as described by white and black victims of violence.? Hispanic victims accounted for aproximately
10 percent of all victims of simple assault, 11 percent of the victims of
aggravated assault, 19 percent of robbery victims and about 6 percent of the
victims of rape and sexual assault.
The decreases in violent victimization among
Hispanic residents during the years 1993 through 2000 occurred in all segments
of the Hispanic community -- irrespective of age, gender or residential
location.? The largest such decreases
were among Hispanic women, Hispanics from 35 years to 49 years old, divorced or
separated Hispanics, those who had annual household incomes between $15,000 and
$24,999 and those who lived in rural areas.
During the same period, violent crime rates fell 51 percent against
blacks and 50 percent against whites.
About 9 percent of all Hispanic victims said
the offender was an intimate, 4 percent said the offender was a non-intimate
relative and 34 percent described the offender as a friend or an acquaintance.? Fifty-two percent of Hispanic victims
said? the offender was a stranger,
compared to 64 percent of Asians and 46 percent of whites.
??????????? The rates of non-fatal
violent crimes per 1,000 U.S. residents 12 years old and older during 2000 were
as follows:
???????????????????????????????????? Non-Hispanic???????????????????????????????????
Hispanic?????????? White?????????????? Black?????????????? American Indian?????????? Asian
Total violent
crime??????? ?? 27.9????????????? ? 26.5?????????????? ? 34.1????????????????????????? 52.3????? ??????????????? 8.4
Rape/sexual assault
0.6????????????????? 1.1?????????????????? 1.5??????????????????????????? 7.7????????????????????? 0.2
Robbery
5.7????????????????? 2.4?????????????????? 6.5??????????????????????????? 2.6????????????????????? 1.9
Aggravated assault
5.3????????????????? 5.3?????????????????? 6.0????????????????????????? 16.3????????????????????? 0.9
Simple assault?????????? ??????16.4?????????????? 17.7
20.1
25.7???????????????????? 5.4
About 15 percent of Hispanic victims of
violence reported the offender had been armed with a firearm at the time of the
offense; about 17 percent of black victims and 7 percent of white violence
victims reported there was a firearm present.
The report said that according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, during 1999, the most recent year for which
the data are available, there were 2,864 Hispanic murder victims -- a rate of
9.1 homicides per 100,000 Hispanics, compared to a national homicide rate of
6.2 per 100,000 U.S. residents.
The data were gathered in the National Crime
Victimization Survey, an ongoing sample survey of approximately 50,000 U.S.
households to determine the incidence, prevalence and consequences of criminal
victimization.
??????????? The BJS special report, ?Hispanic Victims of Violent
Crime, 1993-2000" (NCJ-191208)
was written by BJS statistician Callie Marie Rennison.? Single copies of the report in English or in
Spanish may be obtained by calling the BJS Clearinghouse at
1-800/732-3277.? After the release date
it will also be available at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/............
The BJS Internet site is:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Additional criminal justice materials can be
obtained from the Office of Justice Programs homepage at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/
BJS02066
E-mail: [email protected]
After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354
E-mail: [email protected]