Monday, June 24, 2013

Crime in the United States and Military

United States
Crime rates (2011)
Crime typeRate*
Homicide:4.7
Forcible rape:26.8
Robbery:113.7
Aggravated assault:241.1
Violent crime:386.3
Burglary:702.2
Larceny-theft:1976.9
Motor vehicle theft:229.6
Property crime:2908.7
Notes
* Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population.
Source: FBI Crime in the United States 2011
Crime in the United States is described by annual Uniform Crime Reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)


The figures to the right show the national crime rate.  The nation averages just under 5 murders and and 27 rapes per 100,000 people. 

The media is awash with articles about rape and sexual assault in the US Military.  Most of these reports are based on a survey that DOD conducted which indicate that assaults have increased and on articles about individuals who have been raped or assaulted.  But there is very little real data on this important topic.

The Department of Defense is a very large organization with 2.3 million men and women in uniform.  It would be the fourth largest city in the United States after Chicago.  

You would expect that the crime rate among military personnel would reflect the society from which the personnel are drawn. Factors that would tend to lower crime among DOD personnel would be screening that keeps out known criminals and military discipline and supervision. Factors that would tend to increase crime is the youth of the organization.  DOD is much younger than the country as a whole and young people commit more crimes than older people. Personnel are also drawn from lower income high crime areas.

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The information below shows crime rates in Oceanside California which is the home of Camp Pendleton, the large base which is home to the 1st Marine Infantry Division.



The Oceanside crime rate is lower than the California average crime rate and is lower than the national average crime rate.

Crime Index, #226

Oceanside, CA
1,624.81
California
1,816.35
U.S.
1,776.27
The crime index value is calculated based on the data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the crime level in a region. Higher crime index value means more crime.


Rapes and murders in Oceanside are lower then the national average of 2.3 murders and 27 rapes per 100,000 people, despite being the home of a very large infantry Division composed of a very large number of young men from high crime minority neighborhoods. And much lower than Chicago with a rate of 16 murders and 50 rapes per 100,000 people.

Oceanside, CA Crime by Year

YearLocationDescriptionMurdersRapesRobberiesAssaultsBurglariesTheftsVehicle TheftsArsonCrime Index
2010Oceanside, CACount4471774227652,79934525
Oceanside, CAPer 100,0002.327.0101.8242.7439.91,609.5198.414.41,287
CaliforniaPer 100,0004.922.4156.0257.4614.31,612.1409.4NA1,591
U.S.Per 100,0004.827.5119.1252.3699.62,003.5238.8NA1,610
2009Oceanside, CACount4622214627682,78644124
Oceanside, CAPer 100,0002.336.3129.6270.8450.21,633.3258.514.11,445
CaliforniaPer 100,0005.323.6173.4269.7622.61,665.1443.8NA1,677
U.S.Per 100,0005.028.7133.0262.8716.32,060.9258.8NA1,683
2008Oceanside, CACount5611935498362,80053637
Oceanside, CAPer 100,0002.936.0113.9323.9493.21,651.9316.221.81,538
CaliforniaPer 100,0005.824.2188.8285.0647.11,769.4523.8NA1,804
U.S.Per 100,0005.429.3145.3274.6730.82,167.0314.7NA1,784
2007Oceanside, CACount3512575998393,10264731
Oceanside, CAPer 100,0001.830.6154.4359.9504.11,863.9388.818.61,685
CaliforniaPer 100,0006.224.7193.0298.8648.41,784.4600.2NA1,875
U.S.Per 100,0005.630.0147.6283.8722.52,177.8363.3NA1,827
2006Oceanside, CACount8482456359793,26163321
Oceanside, CAPer 100,0004.828.6146.2378.9584.11,945.7377.712.51,781
CaliforniaPer 100,0006.825.3194.7305.7676.01,829.1665.7NA1,954
U.S.Per 100,0005.730.9149.4287.5729.42,206.8398.4NA1,867
2005Oceanside, CACount7782646341,0653,84674633
Oceanside, CAPer 100,0004.246.3156.6376.1631.92,281.8442.619.62,013
CaliforniaPer 100,0006.926.0176.1317.3693.31,916.5712.8NA1,998
U.S.Per 100,0005.631.7140.7291.1726.72,286.3416.7NA1,888



San Diego

San Diego has an enormous mlitary footprint and is home to a large number of Navy and Marine Personnel.  But it has fairly low crime rates for a large city.  2.9 murders and 22.2 rapes per 100,000 people in 2011.

Crime rates in San Diego by Year

Type

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Murders
(per 100,000)
57
(4.6)
54
(4.3)
50
(4.0)
47
(3.7)
65
(5.1)
62
(4.8)
51
(4.0)
68
(5.4)
59
(4.7)
55
(4.3)
41
(3.1)
29
(2.2)
38
(2.9)
Rapes
(per 100,000)
355
(28.7)
349
(27.6)
342
(27.4)
330
(26.0)
406
(31.9)
373
(29.1)
376
(29.6)
348
(27.5)
296
(23.5)
376
(29.6)
318
(24.2)
300
(22.8)
293
(22.2)
Robberies
(per 100,000)
1,812
(146.3)
1,777
(140.3)
1,729
(138.7)
1,627
(128.3)
1,626
(127.8)
1,650
(128.8)
1,862
(146.4)
2,164
(170.8)
2,095
(166.1)
2,019
(158.8)
1,905
(144.9)
1,636
(124.6)
1,456
(110.6)
Assaults
(per 100,000)
5,187
(418.8)
4,980
(393.3)
5,284
(424.0)
5,189
(409.1)
5,269
(414.0)
4,689
(365.9)
4,314
(339.1)
3,811
(300.8)
3,882
(307.8)
3,597
(282.9)
3,667
(278.9)
3,651
(278.0)
3,317
(251.9)
Burglaries
(per 100,000)
6,568
(530.3)
6,717
(530.5)
7,219
(579.3)
7,639
(602.3)
8,076
(634.5)
7,305
(570.1)
7,462
(586.6)
7,746
(611.4)
7,679
(608.9)
7,743
(608.9)
6,693
(509.1)
6,387
(486.3)
5,840
(443.5)
Thefts
(per 100,000)
26,117
(2,108.7)
23,015
(1,817.7)
25,050
(2,010.2)
24,577
(1,937.7)
25,739
(2,022.3)
25,168
(1,964.2)
24,613
(1,934.8)
24,125
(1,904.3)
23,264
(1,844.6)
21,945
(1,725.7)
18,057
(1,373.4)
17,977
(1,368.7)
17,610
(1,337.2)
Auto thefts
(per 100,000)
9,491
(766.3)
9,467
(747.7)
10,770
(864.3)
10,715
(844.8)
12,567
(987.4)
12,970
(1,012.2)
14,138
(1,111.3)
13,338
(1,052.9)
13,224
(1,048.5)
10,677
(839.6)
7,496
(570.1)
6,389
(486.4)
6,259
(475.3)
Arson
(per 100,000)
230
(18.6)
204
(16.1)
201
(16.1)
206
(16.2)
238
(18.7)
191
(14.9)
233
(18.3)
185
(14.6)
200
(15.9)
190
(14.9)
186
(14.1)
155
(11.8)
153
(11.6)
City-data.com crime rate (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 307.5)340.9319.5344.9334.2359.4342.6349.1345.7338.2313.8259.8242.2228.6
City-data.com crime rate counts serious crimes and violent crime more heavily. It adjusts for the number of visitors and daily workers commuting into cities.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-San-Diego-California.html#ixzz2XEcYfXKG






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Chicago 2009

Murders 16.1 per 100,000

Rapes  50 per 100,000








CRIME RATE SUMMARY - Per 100,000 People

AREA                         MURDERS       RAPES

US                                     4.7                 26.8

Chicago                           16.1                50.0 

San Diego                          2.9               22.2
Large Navy presence

Ocean Side                        2.3               27.0
(Home 1st Marine Div)


This data is certainly not definitive but it does imply that DOD has lower crime rates than does the society as a whole.   You will never hear that from the media, however.  They have a compelling story line that they will happily amplify.


Why does not DOD fight back?  Likely they don't know it. They are after all military guys, not social scientists.  And anything anyone says will be thrown back at them.  So they lie back and take it.  Kind of a metaphor, don't you think?



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