State of North Carolina Uniform Crime Report
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^ LIBRARY NORTH CAROLINA STATE CRIMERALEIGH IN NORTH CAROLINA 1979 UNIFORM CRIME REPORT Issued by the: NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE—POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK WILLIAM C. CORLEY RUFUS L. EDMISTEN Director Attorney General Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/stateofnorthcaro1979nort STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA UNIFORM CRIME REPORT ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY—DECEMBER 1979 COMPILED BY THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK PLEASE NOTE Figures used in this report are submitted voluntarily by law enforcement agencies throughout North Carolina. Individuals using these tabulations are cautioned against drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between cities due to the existence of numerous factors which affect the amount and type of crime from place to place. Some of these factors are listed in this report. More valid use can be made of these figures by determining deviations from state averages and through com- parisons with averages for cities in similar population groups. It is important to remember that crime is a social problem and, therefore, a concern of the entire community. The efforts of law enforcement are limited to factors within its control. i 6- STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RUFUS L. EDMISTEN ATTORNEY GENERAL POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK WILLIAM C. CORLEY DIRECTOR P.O. BOX 27047 I RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27601 TELEPHONE: 919/733-3171 ANNUAL REPORT — JANUARY-DECEMBER 1979 ii RUFUS L. EDMISTEN Attorney General of North Carolina PREFACE All of us in law enforcement have been increasingly concerned about the incidence of crime in North Carolina. This report documents the disturbing fact that after several years of relative stability, the crime rate has begun to rise. The most alarming statistic I find as Attorney General is that only 25% of the crimes that were reported in 1 979 were cleared by arrest, creating a further drop in the number of crimes that are solved in the state each year. This, to me, clearly demonstrates that the law enforcement community is sorely strained, both in terms of manpower and budget, in meeting this new crime wave. I cannot conceive of a higher governmental priority than the protection of the lives, liberty and property of the citizenry. In the past year I have redoubled my effots to increase the manpower and budgetary resources for law enforcement. I have begged, pleaded and cajoled the General Assembly and everyone who would listen for greater resources for law enforcement. I have done this because I believe that the current increase in the crime rate is the single most important issue facing North Carolina today. This annual report, prepared by the Police Information Network, serves to remind all of us of our duty to the people of North Carolina. Hopefully, the dissemination and use of these statistics will help in our daily struggle with the problem of crime. The bonds of cooperation among law enforcement agencies have served to make this annual report the most accurate and informative one yet published on crime in North Carolina. I pledge to you that in the coming year I will be in theforefront of the fighting to get the manpower and budgetary resources that we in law enforcement need to combat the recent surge in the rate of crime. Attorney General Law Enforcement Code of Ethics As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the wea/c against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or dis- order; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality and justice. I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept secret un- less revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty. I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities. i recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession . law enforce- ment. iv WILLIAM C. CORLEY Director Police Information Network FOREWORD Since 1973 law enforcement agencies throughout North Carolina have voluntarily submitted in- formation on crimes committed in their areas of responsibility to the Police Information Network (PIN). The information and statistics presented in this report are an assessment of the statewide crime problem and were compiled from the monthly Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) submitted to PIN by North Carolina law enforcement agencies for the year 1 979. In turn, PIN has furnished this data to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for tabulation of the national crime figures and inclusion in their annual publication, CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES. The staff of the Police Information Network has verified the data in this publication for accuracy and completeness to the best of their ability. It is our hope that this report will assist law enforcement administrators in adjusting, if necessary, their efforts in the fight against crime. This report should provide valuable information for other interested agencies, both public and private, which have similar goals. I sincerely hope that this publication will prove useful in attempting to curtail the serious problem of crime in our State. We are constantly seeking ways and means of improving our publications and methods of collecting the data. In early 1980, PIN will begin implementing a new and improved method of collecting criminal statistics called Incident Base Reporting. It is our plan to have this program implemented to the point that offense data will be available for publication in 1982. Your continued support and suggestions for improving methods of collections and publication of crime data will be appreciated. I would like to extend my thanks to all law enforcement officials without whose concerted and consistent participation in UCR would not have made this publication possible. V NORTH CAROLINA POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING STATEMENT OF POLICY FOR THE RELEASE OF UCR STATISTICAL INFORMATION The following regulations will be observed by this agency concerning the release of Uniform Crime Reporting statistical information. Employees of this agency will observe these pro- cedures and will not deviate from this policy without the express consent of the Director of the Police Information Network. All information to be released will originate from the Police Information Network Criminal Justice Statistics Division and will be approved prior to being released by the Director of the Police Information Network. REGULATIONS FOR PUBLISHED DATA: 1. This agency will publish an annual report reflecting crime in North Carolina. This report will be distributed to the Governor, to members of the Legislature, to the Attorney General, to law enforcement agencies or to any agency or committee dedicated to law enforcement or criminal justice work. 2. All UCR data intended for publication will be released to the contributing agencies prior to its being released to individuals or agencies extraneous to the criminal justice community. FOR UNPUBLISHED DATA: 1. All requests for unpublished information from agencies or individuals should be directed by letter to the Director of the Police Information Network. These special requests will be honored only upon the Director's authorization. 2. Any statistical information not contained in the published annual report may be released via phone, letter, etc., to any interested party only with the written consent of the agency whose statistics are requested. 3. Law enforcement agencies may receive interim, unpublished, specialized reports identifying their agency provided the request is not unreasonable. Law enforcement agencies may also receive their respective county totals as well as any available district or statewide information. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE — RUFUS L. EDMISTEN, ATTORNEY GENERAL iii LAW ENFORCEMENT — CODE OF ETHICS iv FOREWORD — WILLIAM C. CORLEY, DIRECTOR v STATEMENT OF POLICY FOR RELEASE OF UCR STATISTICS vi SECTION ONE — N.C. CRIME REPORTING PROGRAM 1 Historical Background 2 The Police Information Network 3 Field Representation 6 Reporting Procedure 7 Verification Procedure 7 Incident Base Reporting 8 Contributing Agencies — Population Coverage 8 UCR System Flow 9 SECTION TWO — CONSIDERATIONS FOR INTERPRETATION 11 UCR Limitations 12 Classification of Offenses 13 Scoring of Offenses 14 Clearances 14 Property Stolen and Recovered 15 Arrests 15 Crime Rates 15 Offense Definitions 16 SECTION THREE — N.C. CRIME INDEX DATA 19 Statewide Crime Summary 20 The Index of Crime 21 Crime Rate by County — Map 22 N.C. Crime Clocks 23 Murder 27 Forcible Rape 35 Robbery 43 Aggravated Assault 49 Burglary 53 Larceny 59 Motor Vehicle Theft 65 Arson 69 N.C. Contributing Agency Profile 71 SECTION FOUR — N.C. PROPERTY CRIME DATA 129 Value of Property Stolen & Recovered by Month 130 Monthly Value of Property Stolen by Property Type 131 Percent Recovered by Property Type 132 Monthly Value of Property Stolen by Offense 132 Total Value of Property Stolen by Type of Offense 133 Value of Property Stolen & Recovered by County 135 SECTION FIVE — N.C.