2010 TRENDS. Aggravated Assault

Transcription

1 Aggravated assault is the unlawful attack by one person (or persons) upon a victim with the intent to inflict great bodily injury. It is usually accomplished by the use of a weapon; or when a person (or persons) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes great bodily harm to a victim under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. Reported Offenses During 2010, there were 25,884 aggravated assaults reported to police in Pennsylvania. This is a 1.6 percent decrease from 2009 and a 4.9 percent decrease from For every 100,000 Pennsylvanians, aggravated assaults were reported to police in This rate is 2.3 percent lower than the 2009 rate and 10.2 percent lower than the 2000 rate. The Pennsylvania rate has remained relatively stable since 1990, with a dip in the mid 1990s. Number of Reported s and Rate of Reported s Per 100,000 Population: Pennsylvania, 1990, 1995, * Measure Number 26,358 23,028 27,225 25,337 25,868 24,889 26,428 27,508 27,978 27,440 27,555 26,291 25,884 Rate Note: Data for all years ( ) can be found in Appendix A. 1

2 Pennsylvania s 2010 rate of reported aggravated assaults per 100,000 population was lower than the national rate of and the Northeast Regional rate of Of Pennsylvania s bordering states, only Ohio and New Jersey reported lower rates of aggravated assault. The rates of aggravated assaults for Pennsylvania and the nation saw decreases from 2009 to 2010, while the Northeast Region experienced a slight increase. The United States and Northeast Region have experienced significant rate decreases since 1990, while Pennsylvania s rate has remained relatively stable. Number of s Reported to Police Per 100,000 Population: 1990, 1995, * State Pennsylvania United States Northeast Note: Data for all years ( ) can be found in Appendix A., and FBI, Crime in the U.S. 2

3 Rates for aggravated assaults reported to police ranged from a low of 40.0 per 100,000 population in Union County to a high of in Philadelphia County during Fifteen counties reported rates above the statewide rate of Number of Reported s Per 100,000 County Population: Pennsylvania, 2010 * Adams 85.8 Clinton 61.2 Lackawanna Pike Allegheny Columbia 66.9 Lancaster 93.4 Potter Armstrong 75.4 Crawford 46.2 Lawrence Schuylkill Beaver Cumberland 53.5 Lebanon Snyder Bedford 62.3 Dauphin Lehigh 86.1 Somerset 92.6 Berks Delaware Luzerne Sullivan Blair Elk 53.2 Lycoming 87.8 Susquehanna 71.5 Bradford Erie McKean Tioga 73.8 Bucks 55.7 Fayette Mercer Union 40.0 Butler 98.4 Forest Mifflin 77.1 Venango 76.4 Cambria Franklin 77.5 Monroe Warren Cameron 59.0 Fulton Montgomery Washington Carbon Greene 59.5 Montour Wayne 83.3 Centre 65.6 Huntingdon Northampton Westmoreland Chester Indiana Northumberland Wyoming 60.1 Clarion 62.5 Jefferson Perry 82.7 York 94.3 Clearfield Juniata 77.1 Philadelphia

4 Arrests A total of 16,165 arrests for aggravated assaults were reported during 2010 in Pennsylvania. This is a 3.0 percent increase from 2009 but an 8.1 percent decrease from There were arrests for aggravated assaults per 100,000 Pennsylvanians during This rate is a 2.2 percent increase from 2009 and a 13.2 percent decrease from In the past two decades the rate has increased and decreased. Overall the 2010 rate is 2.5 percent higher than the 1990 rate. Number of Arrests for and Rate of Arrests for Per 100,000 Population: Pennsylvania, 1990, 1995, * Measure Number 14,950 13,989 17,591 16,060 15,853 14,827 15,851 16,357 16,855 16,415 16,758 15,689 16,165 Rate Note: Data for all years ( ) can be found in Appendix A. 4

5 Pennsylvania s 2010 arrest rate for aggravated assault was greater than the Northeast Regional rate but less than the national rate. Of contiguous states, only Delaware had a higher arrest rate than Pennsylvania. The aggravated assault arrest rates for both the Northeast Region and the nation decreased from 2009 to While the Pennsylvania rate showed an increase, overall, the Northeast Region and national rates are trending downward. The rate in Pennsylvania has stayed relatively consistent in the past twenty years, with a high occurring in Number of Arrests for Per 100,000 Population: 1990, 1995, * State Pennsylvania United States Northeast Note: Data for all years ( ) can be found in Appendix A., and FBI, Crime in the U.S. 5

6 Arrest rates ranged from 21.9 aggravated assaults per 100,000 population in Elk County to in Philadelphia County. Fourteen counties reported rates above the statewide rate of Number of Arrests for Per 100,000 Population: Pennsylvania, 2010 * Adams 58.2 Clinton 35.7 Lackawanna 51.8 Pike 62.8 Allegheny Columbia 40.1 Lancaster 51.8 Potter 97.4 Armstrong 53.7 Crawford 36.1 Lawrence Schuylkill 96.4 Beaver Cumberland 27.6 Lebanon 68.9 Snyder Bedford 34.2 Dauphin Lehigh 54.9 Somerset 91.3 Berks Delaware Luzerne 79.1 Sullivan 62.2 Blair Elk 21.9 Lycoming 42.2 Susquehanna 60.0 Bradford Erie 33.1 McKean 69.0 Tioga 28.6 Bucks 40.9 Fayette 93.0 Mercer 73.7 Union 44.5 Butler Forest Mifflin 27.8 Venango 65.5 Cambria Franklin Monroe Warren Cameron 39.3 Fulton 53.9 Montgomery 69.8 Washington 97.7 Carbon 98.1 Greene 31.0 Montour Wayne 54.9 Centre 43.5 Huntingdon 80.6 Northampton 75.6 Westmoreland 82.4 Chester 66.9 Indiana Northumberland Wyoming 74.3 Clarion 42.5 Jefferson Perry 56.6 York 60.0 Clearfield 55.1 Juniata 64.9 Philadelphia

7 Clearances One or more individuals may be responsible for committing a single offense. Additionally, one or more individuals may have committed numerous offenses. Therefore, the measure of clearances is useful. Clearances represent the percentage of actual reported offenses that have been solved, regardless of the number of offenders responsible for each offense. Violent crimes tend to have a higher clearance rate than property offenses. During 2010, 30.3 percent of index offenses, 56.7 percent of violent crimes, and 25.9 percent of property crimes were cleared in Pennsylvania. Of violent crimes, the 2010 state clearance rate of 69.4 percent for aggravated assault was slightly higher than the clearance rate for murder, but significantly greater than the rates for rape and robbery. Clearance rates for aggravated assault have steadily increased from approximately 63 percent in 1990 to close to 70 percent in

8 Percent of Index Offenses Cleared: Pennsylvania, 1990 to 2010 * Offense Index 25.2% 25.0% 25.4% 24.8% 27.7% 25.1% 24.4% 25.3% 25.3% 26.6% Violent 50.6% 49.3% 49.8% 49.6% 48.1% 48.5% 47.6% 48.2% 49.6% 52.2% Property 21.8% 21.7% 22.1% 21.3% 24.9% 21.9% 21.2% 21.5% 21.9% 22.7% Murder 80.7% 81.0% 80.2% 76.0% 75.5% 71.7% 74.7% 66.8% 79.3% 81.3% Rape 64.1% 66.1% 63.5% 60.5% 61.5% 59.4% 58.9% 52.9% 56.8% 57.6% Robbery 31.9% 31.0% 31.6% 29.5% 27.4% 28.8% 28.1% 27.9% 29.5% 31.1% 62.8% 62.6% 63.3% 65.2% 64.6% 65.2% 65.5% 64.8% 63.3% 65.4% Burglary 16.6% 16.2% 16.5% 17.1% 17.0% 17.5% 15.9% 16.3% 17.5% 17.7% Larceny/Theft 24.6% 24.9% 25.1% 23.4% 29.2% 23.8% 23.6% 23.2% 23.5% 23.5% Motor Vehicle Theft 17.6% 16.2% 16.4% 16.8% 15.9% 16.9% 15.1% 17.6% 18.2% 22.6% Arson 22.9% 22.0% 24.0% 22.6% 22.6% 27.9% 22.7% 28.5% 23.5% 28.3% Percent of Index Offenses Cleared (Continued) Offense Index 26.7% 27.3% 27.3% 27.2% 27.4% 27.5% 27.6% 28.6% 29.2% 31.1% 30.3% Violent 53.8% 55.3% 54.5% 52.8% 53.2% 52.1% 53.3% 54.3% 55.9% 56.9% 56.7% Property 22.4% 22.9% 22.9% 23.0% 22.9% 23.1% 22.9% 24.0% 24.7% 26.9% 25.9% Murder 77.1% 73.5% 80.3% 75.1% 75.8% 71.2% 65.0% 63.8% 73.2% 73.6% 68.2% Rape 58.5% 59.6% 57.9% 57.4% 58.0% 59.2% 59.6% 58.6% 57.4% 55.4% 61.4% Robbery 31.9% 34.1% 33.0% 32.8% 32.1% 31.4% 31.8% 33.5% 34.8% 36.3% 35.2% 66.7% 68.0% 67.0% 65.5% 66.4% 64.8% 67.9% 68.0% 69.6% 70.4% 69.4% Burglary 20.1% 20.0% 19.1% 21.0% 19.3% 19.5% 19.5% 19.1% 19.2% 19.8% 19.9% Larceny/Theft 23.0% 23.5% 24.1% 23.7% 24.2% 24.4% 24.0% 25.5% 26.2% 28.9% 28.0% Motor Vehicle Theft 20.3% 22.2% 19.9% 20.1% 20.1% 20.0% 21.3% 23.0% 23.7% 25.1% 20.4% Arson 20.3% 24.6% 24.5% 25.2% 27.4% 26.2% 24.7% 27.7% 26.3% 26.2% 26.0% Note: Index offenses do not include arson. Property offenses include arson. 8

9 Type of s During 2010, the largest proportion of aggravated assaults was committed using strong arm techniques, at 40.8 percent. Firearms were used in 19.5 percent of aggravated assaults while knives or other cutting instruments were used in 15.0 percent of reported offenses. Other dangerous weapons were used in 24.7 percent of aggravated assaults. These percentages have remained relatively stable since Types of : Pennsylvania 2000 to 2010 * Type Firearm 5,401 5,315 5,378 5,249 5,561 5,949 5,928 5,490 5,383 4,987 5,042 Knife or Cutting Instruments 3,925 3,760 3,792 3,732 3,977 4,008 4,060 3,991 4,138 3,819 3,883 Other Dangerous Weapon 7,181 6,853 6,704 6,305 6,689 6,653 6,780 6,837 6,827 6,441 6,397 Strong Arm (Hands, Feet, etc.) 10,718 9,409 9,994 9,603 10,201 10,898 11,210 11,122 11,207 11,044 10,562 Total 27,225 25,337 25,868 24,889 26,428 27,508 27,978 27,440 27,555 26,291 25,884 9

10 Appendix A Number of Reported s and Rate of Reported s Per 100,000 Population: Pennsylvania, Measure Number 26,358 25,430 24,011 24,043 23,941 23,028 22,617 22,186 25,101 26,326 27,225 25,337 25,868 24,889 26,428 27,508 27,978 27,440 27,555 26,291 25,884 Rate Source: Pennsylvania State Police, Uniform Crime Report. Number of s Reported to Police Per 100,000 Population: State Pennsylvania United States Northeast Source: Pennsylvania State Police, Uniform Crime Report, and FBI, Crime in the U.S. Number of Arrests for and Rate of Arrests for Per 100,000 Population: Pennsylvania, Measure Number 14,950 14,183 13,814 14,783 14,646 13,989 13,799 13,976 15,604 16,567 17,591 16,060 15,853 14,827 15,851 16,357 16,855 16,415 16,758 15,689 16,165 Rate Source: Pennsylvania State Police, Uniform Crime Report. Number of Arrests for Per 100,000 Population: State Pennsylvania United States Northeast Source: Pennsylvania State Police, Uniform Crime Report, and FBI, Crime in the U.S. 10