Homicide Fact Sheet

H D T E C N I R A C P L X E E

R S Homicide E A M I Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter C T H C A L L V I (Rate per 1,000 people) Homicide is defined by the FBI asthe willful killing of one10 human being by another, and encompasses both murder and non-negligent manslaughter. The Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR), produced annually by the FBI’s 8 Uniform Crime Reporting Program, highlights statistical trends and patterns associated with homicides known to law enforcement in the United States. While the SHR has6 proven to be a reliable resource for researchers and policymakers, law enforcement agencies report this information voluntarily, which can mean the data are not always 4 consistent or nationally representative. Mass shootings, which make up a small subset of homicide, have garnered a great deal of media attention in recent years; for more information,2 see the Mass Casualty Shootings fact sheet in this series. 0 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016

CRIME TRENDS Since 1995, the rate of murder and non-negligent homicide known to authoritiesLargest Cities has decreased. With Highest In 2015, Murder 4.9 people Rates out of every 100,000 were victims of murder or non-negligent homicide. In 2016, this rate(Rates increased Per 100,000 slightly People) to 5.3 murders and non-negligent homicides for every 100,000 people.A Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter 75 Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter While increases in homicide are concerning, this rise does A (Rate per 1,000 people) 60 Murder(Rate and perNon-Negligent 1,000 people) Manslaughter not indicate an emerging national trend. Evaluating rate per 100,000 people 10 homicide rates at the city level, where localized 10 10 45 exceptions can be found, is an important part of 8.28 8 responsibly interpreting these statistics. In 2016, 30 cities such as Baltimore (which had a 63% increase 6 6 15 4.9 in the homicide rate from 2014-2015, then a 7.3% 4 4 decrease in 2016), Washington, DC, and New York saw 0 decreases in their homicide rates. Chicago, however, 2 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2 saw an increase in its homicide rate by 63% from 0 2015-2016, accounting for 55.1% of the total increase 1995 1998 Baltimore,2001 MD 2004Chicago,2007 IL 2010Milwaukee,2013 WI 2016 0 in urban murders. Despite crime rates declining at an 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016

uneven1995 rate, 1998 Americans 2001 are 2004 overall 2007 safer 2010today than 2013 2016 Detroit, MI Washington, DC they have been at nearly any time in the past four decades.B1 Largest Cities With Highest Murder Rates Largest(Rates Cities Per With 100,000 Lowest People) Murder Rates LargestLargest Cities Cities With with HighestHighest MurderMurder Rates RatesA1 Largest Cities with Lowest Murder RatesA1 (Ratesrate Per per 100,000 100,000 people People) 75 (Ratesrate Per per 100,000 100,000 people People) 60 Washington, DC Chicago, IL 15 San Antonio, TX Seattle, WA 7575 15 Detroit, MI Milwaukee, WI 45 Austin, TX San Jose, CA 60 Baltimore, MD 12 San Diego, CA 30 45 9 15

30 0 6 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 15 3 Baltimore, MD Chicago, IL Milwaukee, WI 0 0 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 1995Detroit, 1997 1999MI 2001Washington, 2003 2005 DC 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Baltimore, MD Chicago, IL Milwaukee, WI Austin, TX San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA 2018 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide: Crime and Victimization Fact Sheets Detroit, MI Washington, DC LargestSan Cities Jose, CA With LowestSeattle, WA Murder Rates (Rates Per 100,000 People) 15 Largest Cities With Lowest Murder Rates 12

(Rates Per 100,000 People) 9

15 6

12 3

9 0 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 6 Austin, TX San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA 3 San Jose, CA Seattle, WA

0 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Austin, TX San Antonio, TX San Diego, CA San Jose, CA Seattle, WA

CURRENT DATA ON HOMICIDE

In 2015, there were 13,455 homicides: 4% of victims were 12 In 2015, rates of murder and non-negligent manslaughter years old or younger, 33% were age 20 – 29, and 17% were known to law enforcement were higher for men than over the age of 50. Individuals age 20 – 29 of either sex were women.A Of all known homicides, black men accounted killed more often than people in any other age range.A For for 58% of all male homicide victims, while white women young men, homicide is the third-leading cause of death.B accounted for 62% of all female homicide victims.A Among young men, homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans and the second-leading cause for Latinos.B Homicide VictimsA by age and sex Homicide VictimsA by race and sex 3 0 – 12 8 Men 13 – 19 10 Women 58 7 Black 33 36 20 – 29 24 [Homicide] 22 Version: 6.0 39 30 – 39 19 White 62 12 40 – 49 15 2 Men 50+ 15 Unknown 26 4 Women [Homicide] Unknown 1 Version: 6.0 70% 1 40%

In 2014, 7 in 10 homicides were committed with a firearm, Of murder and non-negligent manslaughter victims, 42% and 1 in 10 were committedFirearms with a knife.A had some sort of relationship with the perpetrator, 10% had no relationship (i.e., strangers), and 48% had an unknown Knives Murder and relationship.A2 A Non-NegligentPersonal Weapons Manslaughter by weapon type Victim Relationship to PerpetratorA Firearms Blunt Objects Firearm (71%) 30% Knives 26 Asphyxiation/Drowning/StrangulatiKnife (11%) on PersonalPersonal weapon Weapons (e.g., fist) (5%) Blunt object (3%) Family Asphyxiation/drowning/Blunt Objects strangulation (2%) Non-family OtherAsphyxiation/Drowning/Strangulati (7%) 10 on 5 In 2014, the majority of murder and non-negligent 3 2 3 2 1 manslaughter occurred in the south (46%). The lowest 1 A proportion occurred in the northeast (12%). 2 Child Spouse Parent Sibling Friend Stranger Murder and Neighbor/ coworker Non-Negligent ManslaughterA Other family Acquaintance Southby region Midwest South (46%) SOURCES MidwestWest (22%) A FBI, Crime in the United States, 1995–2015, (U.S. Department of Justice), West (20%) https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/offens- Northeast South es-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-offense Northeast (12%) Midwest B Thomas Abt, “Violent Crime: A Conversation,” (The Marshall Project: Nov. 15, 2017), https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/11/15/violent- crime-a-conversation West C FBI, 2016 Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, (U.S. Department Northeast NOTES of Justice), https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2016/officers-feloniously-killed/ta- bles/table-23.xls 1 In 1999, the UCR did not report the murder rate for Baltimore. This number is calculated using police data and the reported population of Baltimore for 1999.

2 The 26% total comprises the UCR categories of “Acquaintances” (which includes

same-sex partners) and “Significant Others.”

For further citations, questions or comments about this factsheet, please contact Rachel Ferris of the 1 National Center for Victims of Crime at: [email protected].