GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's annual update on crime shows that 30% of all U.S. households experienced some type of crime during the past year, including 18% with one incident and 12% with two or more incidents. The poll also shows that 44% of all crime incidents in the past year were not reported to the police.
Gallup added the category of Internet crime in 2003, which creates a higher crime rate because of the extra item. Without Internet crime included, the household crime rate is 25%, compared with 26% last year.
The rate of individual (as opposed to household) victimization is 21% for all crimes, and 17% for crimes not including those that are Internet-related. Individual crime victimization is also essentially the same this year as last.
Though the victimization rates are the same this year as last year, fewer crimes this year were reported -- just 56%, compared with 65% last year.
Please tell me which, if any, of these incidents have happened to you or your household within the last 12 months?
|
Crime Incident |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
A home, car, or property owned by you or other household member vandalized |
12 |
11 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
|
Money or property stolen from you or another member of your household |
14 |
11 |
12 |
14 |
14 |
|
A car owned by you or other household member stolen |
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
|
Your house or apartment broken into |
4 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
|
You or other household member mugged or physically assaulted |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
Money or property taken from you or other household member by force, with gun, knife, weapon or physical attack, or by threat of force |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
You or other household member sexually assaulted |
1 |
N/A |
2 |
1 |
* |
|
You or another household member was victim of computer/Internet crime |
-- |
-- |
-- |
6 |
8 |
|
Net percentage of households experiencing any crime |
-- |
-- |
-- |
30 |
30 |
|
Net percentage of households experiencing any crime (excluding Internet crime) |
24 |
22 |
25 |
26 |
25 |
|
Net percentage of households experiencing violent crime |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
|
Percentage of individuals victimized by crime in past year |
-- |
-- |
-- |
21 |
21 |
|
Percentage of individuals victimized by crime in past year (not including Internet crime) |
15 |
15 |
15 |
18 |
17 |
|
Percentage of individuals victimized by violent crime in past year |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Percentage of all crime not reported to police |
-- |
-- |
-- |
35 |
44 |
|
Percentage of all crime not reported to police (excluding Internet crime) |
29 |
33 |
29 |
32 |
38 |
|
N/A = Not asked |
|
|
|
|
|
Over the past five years, the two most frequently mentioned crimes in all the polls are having one's home, car, or property vandalized (ranging from 11% to 15%) and having money or property stolen (11% to 14%).
Four percent of respondents this year say that a car owned by someone in the household was stolen, 3% that their house or apartment was broken into, 3% that someone in the household was mugged or physically assaulted, and 1% that someone in the household was robbed. Less than half of 1% say that someone in the household was sexually assaulted.
In addition, 8% of Americans report being a victim of a computer or Internet-related crime, compared with 6% last year.
A net total of 4% of all American households experienced one or more violent crimes this past year, compared with 5% the previous year.
For the first four years of the annual polls, the percentage of crimes not reported to the police varied between 29% and 33% (excluding Internet-related crime). But this year, the percentage of unreported crime incidents jumped to 38%, up from 32% last year and 29% in 2002. If Internet crimes are included in the calculation, the same pattern prevails -- 35% of crimes were not reported last year, compared with 44% this year.
Crime Highest Among the Young and People in Urban Areas
While there are some variations over the past five years, the highest rates of victimization continue to be among young people and those who live in urban areas, while people aged 65 and older are by far the least likely to report any experience with crime. (For purposes of comparison with previous years, Internet crime is excluded.)
|
CRIME INCIDENTS COMPARED BY SELECTED
DEMOGRAPHICS |
|||||||
|
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
|||
|
% |
% |
% |
|
|
|||
|
All Households |
24 |
22 |
25 |
26 |
25 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Age |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
18 to 29 |
39 |
30 |
43 |
41 |
40 |
||
|
30 to 49 |
25 |
27 |
25 |
26 |
28 |
||
|
50 to 64 |
19 |
17 |
20 |
25 |
23 |
||
|
65+ |
8 |
8 |
12 |
10 |
8 |
||
|
Community |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Urban |
32 |
28 |
35 |
29 |
30 |
||
|
Suburban |
23 |
20 |
20 |
27 |
22 |
||
|
Rural |
16 |
21 |
23 |
20 |
25 |
||
|
Race |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
White |
23 |
21 |
22 |
24 |
25 |
||
|
Nonwhite |
31 |
32 |
36 |
33 |
29 |
||
|
Income |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
<$20,000 |
18 |
21 |
27 |
25 |
35 |
||
|
$20,000-<$30,000 |
34 |
27 |
29 |
31 |
30 |
||
|
$30,000-<$50,000 |
19 |
26 |
26 |
28 |
26 |
||
|
$50,000-<$75,000 |
28 |
19 |
21 |
26 |
22 |
||
|
$75,000+ |
19 |
22 |
28 |
20 |
21 |
||
|
Gender |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Male |
27 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
25 |
||
|
Female |
21 |
23 |
28 |
28 |
26 |
||
Major findings:
- Forty percent of respondents in the youngest age group (18 to
29) report that their household experienced some crime in the past
year, compared with 28% in the 30- to 49-year-old group, 23% in the
50 to 64 group, and only 8% among people aged 65 and older. That
pattern has been found in each of the five years.
- Urban households continue to experience a higher rate of crime
than suburban and rural households -- 30% vs. 22% and 25%,
respectively. The differences between suburban and rural households
have varied, with no clear pattern.
- White households experience somewhat lower rates of crime than
nonwhite households. The gap has varied over the past five years,
from a low of 4 points this year to a high of 14 points in 2002.
The average gap over the past half-decade is a nine-point higher
crime rate in nonwhite than in white households.
- This year, there is a strong correlation between income and victimization, with lower-income households experiencing more crime than higher-income households. A similar, but weaker, pattern has been found in previous years. In general, crime victimization is higher in households with incomes under $50,000 a year than in households with incomes of $50,000 a year or more.
Survey Methods
The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected sample of 1,012 adults across the 48 contiguous states, aged 18 and older, conducted Oct. 11-14, 2004. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
