FBI: Overview Of Preliminary Uniform Crime Report, January–June, 2020

The FBI released the below information:

The FBI’s Preliminary Uniform Crime Report, January–June, 2020, reveals overall declines in the number of violent crimes and property crimes reported for the first six months of 2020 when compared with figures for the first six months of 2019. The report is based on information from 12,206 law enforcement agencies that submitted three to six months of comparable data for both years to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

Violent Crime

• When data from the first six months of 2020 were compared with data from the first six months of 2019, the number of rape offenses decreased 17.8%, and robbery offenses were down 7.1%. The number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses increased 14.8%, and aggravated assault offenses were up 4.6%.
• The overall number of violent crimes decreased in four city population groups. Law enforcement agencies in cities with populations of less than 10,000 reported the largest decrease, 7.2%. Law enforcement agencies in cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,000 reported the smallest decrease, 0.3%.
• Violent crime decreased in three of the four regions of the nation. These crimes were down 4.8% in the Northeast, 1.8% in the Midwest, and 1.1% in the West. However, violent crime increased in the South, 2.5%.

Property Crime

• In the property crime category, offenses declined 7.8%. Larceny thefts were down 9.9%, and burglaries decreased 7.8%. Motor vehicle thefts increased 6.2%.
• The overall number of property crimes decreased in all city population groups. Law enforcement agencies in cities with populations under 10,000 inhabitants reported the largest decrease, 14.2%. Law enforcement agencies in cities with populations of 250,000 to 499,999 reported the smallest decrease, 3.7%.
• Property crime decreased 9.3% in nonmetropolitan counties and 7.3% in metropolitan counties.
• Property crime decreased in all four regions of the nation. Reports of these offenses reflected declines of 10.3% in the Midwest, 9.3% in the South, 5.7% in the Northeast, and 5.3% in the West.

Arson

In the FBI’s UCR Program, arson offenses are collected separately from other property crimes. The number of arson offenses increased 19.2% in the first six months of 2020 when compared with figures for the first six months of 2019. All four regions reported increases in the number of arsons. Arsons were up 28.0% in the West, 16.4% in the Northeast, 15.7% in the Midwest, and 10.2% in the South.

Arson offenses rose 52.1% in cities with populations of 1,000,000 and over. Cities with populations under 10,000 experienced a 5.7% increase in arson offenses. Arsons increased 13.7% in nonmetropolitan counties and 11.6% in metropolitan counties.

Caution Against Ranking

When the FBI publishes crime data via its UCR Program, some entities use the information to compile rankings of cities and counties. Such rankings, however, do not provide insight into the numerous variables that shape crime in a given state, county, city, town, tribal area, or region. These rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that can create misleading perceptions that adversely affect communities and their residents. Only through careful study and analyses into the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction can data users create valid assessments of crime. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from states, metropolitan areas, cities, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population or student enrollment.

The FBI released the below information:

Preliminary statistics show overall declines in both violent and property crime in the first half of 2019 compared to the same time frame the previous year, according to FBI crime statistics released today.

The Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report covers January through June 2019. It contains data from more than 14,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide that voluntarily submitted information to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

According to the report, all categories of violent crime offenses decreased between the first half of 2018 and the first half of 2019, including:

• Robbery (-7.4 percent)
• Rape (-7.3 percent)
• Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter (-3.9 percent)
• Aggravated assault (-0.3 percent)

Property crime also declined during the same period, specifically:

• Burglary (-11.1 percent)
• Motor vehicle theft (-6.7 percent)
• Larceny-theft (-4.2 percent)

The full Crime in the United States, 2019 report will be released later this year.

Full Report 

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/preliminary-report/home 

Netflix's 'Unbelievable' Is A Dramatic Story About Rape, The Aftermath And the Police Investigation

My wife and I recently watched the eight-part Netflix series Unbelievable.

The series, based on a true story, is a serious study of rape and aftermath, as well as a fascinating and dramatic police investigation, was outstanding. 

Kaitlyn Dever portrays “Marie,” an 18-year-old woman raised in the foster care system in Washington State, who was raped in her apartment. Confused and traumatized, she offers conflicting statements about the rape and she is disbelieved by the detectives investigating the rape. 

The detectives have her recant her story and later charge her for false reporting the rape to the police. 

Dever, whose performance was excellent, shows Marie’s subsequent spiral downfall.

The series also depicts the two women detectives, portrayed by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever, who investigate other rapes that they tie to a serial rapist in Colorado.

Dever, Collette, Wever and the other cast members are first-class, as are the direction and writing of this initially sad and depressing, but ultimately uplifting series. 

If one is looking for a fine drama series to watch, I recommend Unbelievable. 

You can read the propublica.org article that the series was based on via the below link:

https://www.propublica.org/article/false-rape-accusations-an-unbelievable-story

You can read my Crime Beat column on the Philadelphia Police's Sex Crimes Unit via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2015/12/my-crime-beat-column-visit-to.html

Note: The top photo is of Kaitlyn Dever. The next photo is of Toni Collette and Merritt Wever.

FBI Releases Preliminary 2017 Data On Crime In The United States

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation today released the 2017 Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, a part of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). The report, which covers January-June 2017, suggests that the violent crime increases that occurred in 2015 and 2016 may have begun to level off. The number of violent crimes decreased by 0.8 percent nationwide in the first half of 2017 when compared with the same period in 2016. The nationwide violent crime rate (the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people in the U.S.) increased by a total of nearly 7 percent during 2015 and 2016, (3.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively), the largest two increases in a quarter of a century.

“When President Trump took office, he ordered the Department of Justice to prioritize the reduction of violent crime, and that is what we have done every day since,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. “Last year, we charged more defendants with violent crime offenses than in any year in decades. We convicted hundreds of human traffickers, arrested thousands of violent gang members, and charged hundreds of people suspected of contributing to our opioid abuse epidemic. Working with our state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners, we are making a difference and protecting our communities. These data are encouraging, because it is essential that drastic increases in violent crime not become the new normal. We are dedicated to ensuring they do not.”

The data released by the FBI today also show that murders increased by 1.5 percent nationwide during the first six months of 2017, compared with the same period in 2016. This suggests a significant leveling off of the previous increase. In the first half of 2016, murders increased by 5.2 percent. Other categories of violent crime, including rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, all decreased in the first half of 2017 (by 2.4 percent, 2.2 percent, and 0.1 percent, respectively). All three categories increased during the same period in 2016. The FBI’s 2017 Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report is based on information received by the FBI from 13,033 law enforcement agencies nationwide.

British Double Child Killer Colin Pitchfork Is 'Still A Psychopath' Claims Former Detective And Author Joseph Wambaugh As Families Of The Girls He Raped Fear He Will Be Back On The Streets Permanently

Barbara Davies at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers a piece on the release of murderer and rapist Colin Pitchfork, the subject of Joseph Wambaugh’s outstanding true crime book The Blooding.

Those who walked past Colin Pitchfork in Bristol city centre recently are unlikely to have suspected that there was a notorious double child killer in their midst.

During three decades spent in jail for the rape and murder of two 15-year-old girls, the 56-year-old has lost much of his hair. His sullen features are partially masked by a thick white beard.

Casually dressed in a pale Adidas jacket, jeans and trainers as he browsed cookery books and visited a Jobcentre and three banks, the former baker certainly bears little resemblance to the grim black-and-white police mugshot taken of him when he was snared by Leicestershire police back in 1987.

But for the families of Pitchfork’s teenage victims, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, these images of the unaccompanied killer out on day release recently from an open prison are devastating indeed.

Aside from stirring up agonising memories of how the father-of-two from Leicestershire brutally snuffed out the lives of both girls, three years apart, they provide the clearest evidence yet that Pitchfork — the first murderer in the world to be convicted thanks to DNA evidence — is being prepared for a life of freedom.

… Author and ex-police detective Joseph Wambaugh (seen in the below photo), whose book, The Blooding, is widely regarded as the definitive work on the case, told me that former baker Pitchfork is a ‘psychopath’ and ‘he will be a danger until he’s too old to be and he’s far from that’.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5094839/Double-child-killer-Colin-Pitchfork-day-release.html 

Note: You can read my Q&A with Joseph Wambaugh via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/11/semper-cop-interview-with-novelist.html 

FBI Releases 2015 Crime Statistics

The FBI released the below information:

 After two years of decline, the estimated number of violent crimes in the nation increased 3.9 percent in 2015 when compared with 2014 data, according to FBI figures released today. Property crimes dropped 2.6 percent, marking the 13th straight year the collective estimates for these offenses declined.

The 2015 statistics show the estimated rate of violent crime was 372.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the property crime rate was 2,487.0 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. The violent crime rate rose 3.1 percent compared with the 2014 rate, and the property crime rate declined 3.4 percent.

These and additional data are presented in the 2015 edition of the FBI’s annual report Crime in the United States. This publication, which is a statistical compilation of offense, arrest, and police employee data reported by law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, also includes limited federal crime reporting, human trafficking, and cargo theft data.

The UCR Program collects information on crimes reported by law enforcement agencies regarding the violent crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, as well as the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. (Although the FBI classifies arson as a property crime, it does not estimate arson data because of variations in the level of participation by the reporting agencies. Consequently, arson data are not included in the property crime estimate.) The program also collects arrest data for the offenses listed above plus 20 offenses that include all other crimes except traffic violations.

Prior to 2013, the FBI’s UCR Program collected rape data in the Summary Reporting System under the category “forcible rape.” In 2013, the program removed the term “forcible” from the title and revised the definition. The legacy UCR definition of rape is “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” The revised UCR definition of rape is “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

Of the 18,439 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies eligible to participate in the UCR Program, 16,643 submitted data in 2015. A high-level summary of the statistics submitted, as well as estimates for those agencies that did not report, follows:

In 2015, there were an estimated 1,197,704 violent crimes. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter increased 10.8 percent when compared with estimates from 2014.

Rape and aggravated assault increased 6.3 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, while robbery increased 1.4 percent.

Nationwide, there were an estimated 7,993,631 property crimes. The estimated numbers for two of the three property crimes show declines when compared with the previous year’s estimates. Burglaries dropped 7.8 percent, and larceny-thefts declined 1.8 percent, but motor vehicle thefts rose 3.1 percent.

Collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) suffered losses estimated at $14.3 billion in 2015.

The FBI estimated that law enforcement agencies nationwide made 10.8 million arrests, excluding traffic violations, in 2015.

The arrest rate for violent crime was 157.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the arrest rate for property crime was 458.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.

By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and non-negligent manslaughter was 3.5 per 100,000 inhabitants; rape (aggregate total of revised and legacy), 7.1; robbery, 29.7; and aggravated assault, 117.0 per 100,000 inhabitants.

By property crime offense, the arrest rate for burglary was 67.5 per 100,000 inhabitants; larceny-theft, 364.5; and motor vehicle theft, 24.2. The arrest rate for arson was 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.

In 2015, there were 13,160 law enforcement agencies that reported their staffing levels to the FBI. These agencies reported that, as of October 31, 2015, they collectively employed 635,781 sworn officers and 277,380 civilians, a rate of 3.3 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.

Caution Against Ranking

Each year when Crime in the United States is published, some entities use the figures to compile rankings of cities and counties. These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, tribal area, or region. Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from cities, metropolitan areas, states, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population coverage or student enrollment. 

My Crime Beat Column: A Visit To the Philadelphia Police Department's Sex Crimes Unit

The below column originally appeared in the South Philadelphia American in 1997:

A child is abducted walking to school one early morning. A woman is assaulted while getting into her car at a parking lot one early evening. Another woman is attacked while waiting for a subway on a lonely station.

I visited the Philadelphia Police Department Detective Bureau's Sex Crimes Unit and asked if these commonly feared incidents were typical.

"It happens, but that's not the large percentage of our cases," said Philadelphia Police Captain Eileen M. Bonner, the commanding officer of the unit. "Over 75 per cent of sex crime victims know the person who assaulted them."

I met with Bonner and Lt. Ken Coluzzi, who heads up the unit's special investigations, at their office at the old Frankford Arsenal. The unit has city-wide jurisdiction.

"A sex crime is committed when sex occurs between two people by force or intimidation, intellectual or sexual compulsion," Coluzzi said. "Force doesn't only mean a weapon. Any kind of force, like a physical threat or to suggest that harm may come if they don't comply with their wishes."

Typically, uniform patrol officers get the 911 call and then pass on the report to the sex crimes unit. Unit investigators go to the crime scene to protect it and gather as much physical evidence as they can. They talk to the victim if they are available and can speak, and they talk to potential witnesses.

"One crime is too many, but there are no crime patterns right now that we are investigating. There are only isolated incidents," Coluzzi explained. "We just recently had four women who were raped in the Center City and Fairmount area. Three were elderly women and one was a 38-year-old. A man broke into their homes and once inside he raped, robbed, and in one case, beat the woman."

Fortunately, Coluzzi told me, they apprehended a man who was charged with three of the four rapes.

I asked Coluzzi about sex offenders who use the Internet to entice victims.

Coluzzi replied that the unit coordinates Internet crimes with the State's Attorney General and U.S. Postal authorities. The unit gets involved when the case involves child  pornography or the solicitation of a minor for a sexual act.

Bonner added that the unit handles physical abuse of children as well as sexual abuse. She explained that the unit works closely with the city's Department of Human Services.

I asked if there was a typical sex offender, a "Chester the Molester" type.

Coluzzi said no, but he said that a profile of a sexual offender can be done on an individual series of crimes. He spoke of the FBI's Violent Crime Apprehension Program (VICAP) and the Pennsylvania State Police's Analytical Technique of Apprehension of Criminals (ATAC) systems. Homicides, violent sexual crimes and missing persons are registered in the two systems.

The unit submits a 15 page form with the particulars on the victim, the assailant and how the crime took place. A computerized consolidation of information and a profile of an assailant is disseminated throughout the country.

There is also no typical sex crime victim, I was told. The victims cross all social, economic and racial lines.

"The youngest victim was three months old and the oldest was in her nineties," Bonner said.

Coluzzi recalled one of their more well-known cases. In 1996 a man abducted young children out of their homes in the middle of the night, drove them away to be raped and then returned them to their homes. For two months the unit conducted extensive crime scene searches for searches for physical evidence and investigators worked the streets. Witness who came forward due to media attention were very helpful, Coluzzi said. The sex offender was caught and he is now in prison.

Another major case, dubbed by the media as "The Center City Stalker," was worked by Sgt. Patrick Ghegan, who joined our discussion.

"Back in '88 a man was accosting women in parking lots and buildings, and in one case, he waited in the ladies room," Ghegan said. "One woman near 8th and Market resisted and he beat her with a pistol."

Another one of the victims was having a baby and the assailant told her he was a security guard and could help her. He took her to a secluded area ad attacked her. After a three-week investigation the man was apprehended and was later imprisoned.

Coluzzi said that the unit's investigators can't get personally involved, but sex crimes do affect them more than a common burglary.

"It's a crime against a person. For the victim, it's a very traumatic experience that stays with them for the rest of their lives,' Coluzzi said.                    

FBI Releases Preliminary Semiannual Crime Statistics For 2014

The FBI released their preliminary semiannual crime statistics for 2014:

Statistics released today in the FBI’s Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report reveal overall declines in both the number of violent crimes and the number of property crimes reported for the first six months of 2014 when compared with figures for the first six months of 2013.

The report is based on information from 11,009 law enforcement agencies that submitted three to six months of comparable data to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for the first six months of 2013 and 2014.

Violent Crime

• All the offenses in the violent crime category—murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape (revised definition), aggravated assault, and robbery—showed decreases when data from the first six months of 2014 were compared with data from the first six months of 2013. The number of murders declined 6.0 percent, the number of rapes (revised definition) declined 10.1 percent, aggravated assaults decreased 1.6 percent, and robbery offenses decreased 10.3 percent.
• Violent crime decreased in all city groupings. The largest decrease, 6.7 percent, was noted in cities with fewer than 10,000 in population.
• Violent crime decreased 7.6 percent in non-metropolitan counties and 4.4 percent in metropolitan counties.
• Violent crime declined in each of the nation’s four regions. The largest decrease, 7.6 percent, was noted in the Midwest, followed by 6.6 percent in the Northeast, 3.0 percent in the South, and 2.7 percent in the West.

Property Crime

• All three offenses in the property crime category—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft—showed decreases in the number of offenses for January to June 2014 when compared with data for the same months of 2013. Burglary offenses dropped 14.0 percent. There was a 5.7 percent decrease in the number of motor vehicle thefts, and a 5.6 percent decrease in larceny-theft offenses.
• Each of the city population groups had decreases in the overall number of property crimes. Law enforcement agencies in cities with populations under 10,000 inhabitants reported the largest decrease, 8.9 percent.

• Property crime decreased 11.8 percent in non-metropolitan counties and 9.0 percent in metropolitan counties.
• All four of the nation’s regions showed declines in the number of property crime: 12.5 percent in the Midwest, 7.6 percent in the Northeast, 5.9 percent in the South, and 5.8 percent in the West.

Arson

In the UCR Program, arson offenses are collected separately from other property crimes. The number of arson offenses decreased 6.5 percent in the first six months of 2014 when compared with figures for the first six months of 2013. All four regions reported decreases in the number of arsons—11.3 percent in the Midwest, 9.4 percent in the Northeast, 8.4 percent in the South, and 0.4 percent in the West.

Arson offenses decreased 13.0 percent in cities with populations of 500,000 to 999,999, the largest decrease within the city groupings. Arson offenses declined 9.9 percent in metropolitan counties but increased 0.4 percent in non-metropolitan counties.

Revised Definition of Rape

In 2013, the FBI’s UCR Program initiated the collection of rape data under a revised definition within the Summary Based Reporting System. The term “forcible” was removed from the offense name, and the definition was changed to “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

The number of rape incidents reported using the the revised definition, as well as the number of rapes submitted using the legacy definition, are both included in this report in separate columns in each table. The rape figures for those agencies that changed from reporting rape under the legacy definition in 2013 to the revised definition in 2014 are not included to calculate the trends reported in Tables 1-3, but they are reported in Table 4. Please note: Because rape data reported by all agencies for 2013 and 2014 cannot be aggregated, the percent changes from one year to the next are calculated with smaller numbers than in recent years. Offenses with fewer counts are often sensitive to minor differences when calculating trends. More information about this subject is presented in footnotes and data declarations for each table.

Caution against ranking: When the FBI publishes crime data via its UCR Program, some entities use the information to compile rankings of cities and counties. Such rankings, however, do not provide insight into the numerous variables that shape crime in a given town, city, county, state, tribal area, or region. These rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that can create misleading perceptions that adversely affect communities and their residents. Only through careful study and analyses into the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction can data users create valid assessments of crime. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from cities, metropolitan areas, states, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population or student enrollment.

In Defense of Capital Punishment

Jonah Goldberg at National Review offers a piece in defense of capitol punishment.

Last week the state of Oklahoma “botched” an execution.

Botched is the accepted term in the media coverage, despite the fact that Clayton Lockett was executed. He just died badly, suffering for 43 minutes until he eventually had a heart attack.

 

... As for Lockett, he was entitled to a relatively painless and humane execution under the law. As for what he deserved in the cosmic sense, I suspect he got off easy.

He and his accomplices abducted two teenage girls (as well as a man and his baby). One of them, Stephanie Neiman, refused to say she wouldn’t tell the police, so Lockett shot her with a shotgun. But she didn’t die. He ordered his accomplices to bury her alive. Here’s an AP summary of his crimes, in addition to first-degree murder: “conspiracy, first-degree burglary, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts of forcible oral sodomy, four counts of first-degree rape, four counts of kidnapping, and two counts of robbery by force and fear.” Maybe you can weep for the man. I can’t.

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/377351/defense-capital-punishment-jonah-goldberg