MAY 2021 Black Homicide Victimization in the United States An Analysis of 2018 Homicide Data WWW.VPC.ORG BLACK HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER | 1 COPYRIGHT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Copyright © May 2021 Violence Policy Center The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is a national nonprofit educational organization that conducts research and public education on violence in America and provides information and analysis to policymakers, journalists, advocates, and the general public. This study was funded with the support of The Joyce Foundation. This study was also supported by generous gifts from Christine Armeo, David and Ellen Berman, Nicole Fealey, Michael and Chris Feves, and Olivia Hartsell. This study was authored by VPC Senior Policy Analyst Marty Langley and VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann. For a complete list of VPC publications with document links, please visit http://www.vpc.org/publications/. To learn more about the Violence Policy Center, please visit www.vpc.org. To make a tax-deductible contribution to help support our work, please visit https://www.vpc.org/contribute. 2 | VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER BLACK HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES THE EPIDEMIC OF BLACK HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION The devastation homicide inflicts on Black teens and adults is a national crisis, yet it is all too often ignored outside of affected communities. This study examines the problem of Black homicide victimization at the state level by analyzing unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data for Black homicide victimization submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).1 The information used for this report is for the year 2018 and is the most recent data available. This is the first analysis of the 2018 data on Black homicide victims to offer breakdowns of cases in the 10 states with the highest Black homicide victimization rates and the first to rank the states by the rate of Black homicide victims. It is important to note that the SHR data used in this report comes from law enforcement reporting at the local level. While there are coding guidelines followed by the law enforcement agencies, the amount of information submitted to the SHR system, and the interpretation of how to categorize information submitted (for example, gang involvement) will vary from agency to agency. While this study utilizes the best and most recent data available, it is limited by the quantity and degree of detail in the information submitted.2 The FBI is scheduled to make dramatic and disturbing changes in the way it collects and reports crime data. The changes would drastically reduce the availability of state and local data and deprive researchers access to detailed data that can help prevent gun violence and other crime. The FBI has announced that beginning in 2021, it will stop collecting detailed crime data from police agencies that are not ready to participate in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), an updated and expanded version of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) system. While full implementation of NIBRS would be an improvement on the current UCR system, for 2019 only about half of law enforcement agencies that participated in the UCR program submitted their information through the new system. Instead of allowing local agencies who miss the deadline to continue to report crime data via the UCR, the FBI will partner with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to create national estimates to account for the missing information. BJS forecasts that the estimates will cover approximately 25 percent of the more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States that report to the UCR. These changes would represent a dramatic step backwards and hobble efforts to understand and prevent gun violence, domestic violence, homicide, and, in fact, all types of violent crime. 1 The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program collects basic information on serious crimes from participating police agencies and records supplementary information about the circumstances of homicides in its unpublished Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR). Submitted monthly, supplementary data consists of: the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of both victims and offenders; the types of weapons used; the relationship of victims to offenders; and, the circumstances of the homicides. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, supplementary data are provided on only a subset of homicide cases. Additionally, SHR data are updated throughout the year as homicide reports are forwarded by state UCR programs. 2 In 2018, as in years past, the state of Florida did not submit any data to the FBI Supplementary Homicide Report. Also in 2018, data from Alabama was not available from the FBI. Data from Florida and Alabama was not requested individually because the difference in collection techniques would create a bias in the study results. BLACK HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER | 1 NATIONAL DATA According to the FBI SHR data, in 2018 there were 7,426 Black homicide victims in the United States. The homicide rate among Black victims in the United States was 18.18 per 100,000. For that year, the overall national homicide rate was 4.92 per 100,000. For whites, the national homicide rate was 2.83 per 100,000. Additional information contained in the FBI SHR data on Black homicide victimization is below. SEX Of the 7,426 Black homicide victims, 6,314 (85 percent) were male, 1,111 (15 percent) were female, and one was of unknown sex (less than one percent). The homicide rate for Black male victims was 28.48 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for male homicide victims was 7.17 per 100,000. For white male homicide victims it was 3.76 per 100,000. The homicide rate for female Black victims was 4.63 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for female homicide victims was 1.93 per 100,000. For white female homicide victims it was 1.48 per 100,000. AGE Five hundred twenty Black homicide victims (seven percent) were less than 18 years old and 166 Black homicide victims (two percent) were 65 years of age or older. The average age was 32 years old. MOST COMMON WEAPONS For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 86 percent of Black victims (6,116 out of 7,072) were shot and killed with guns. Of these, 66 percent (4,024 victims) were killed with handguns. There were 547 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 212 victims killed by bodily force, and 108 victims killed by a blunt object. In comparison, 67 percent of white victims and 77 percent of victims of all races were killed with guns. Weapons Used in Homicides Involving Black Victims 212, 3% 89, 1% 108, 2% 547, 8% 6,116, 86% ■ Firearm ■ Knife or Cutting Instrument ■ Blunt Object ■ Bodily Force ■ Other Weapon 2 | VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER BLACK HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES SPOTLIGHT ON MISSOURI Missouri is experiencing a prolonged epidemic of Black homicide victimization. * Prior to 2016,In Chicago2018, andMissouri Rockford werehad the the sole highest reporting jurisdictionsBlack homicide that submitted victimization homicide data rate for inclusion in the in nationthe FBI Supplementary for the fifth Homicide year in a row. Report (SHR).Missouri Beginning hasin 2016, ranked all Illinois either law enforcement first or agenciessecond were in requiredthe nation by state for law toBlack submit homicide homicide data victimization for inclusion in the 12 SHR. years in a row. Even those grim statistics do not reveal the true scope of the problem in Missouri. Despite already having the highest Black homicide victimization rate in the country in 2014, from 2014 to 2018 the Black homicide victimization rate in Missouri increased by 36 percent. Missouri’s 2018 Black homicide victimization rate of 47.41 is more than two and a half times the national Black homicide victimization rate, and nearly 17 times the national homicide victimization rate for white victims. Missouri’s Black homicide victimization rates in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 are the four highest rates in the 15-year history of this study. The epidemic of Black homicide victimization in Missouri is a crisis that should be a top priority for lawmakers in the state, and it recently became an area of focus by the state’s news media. In the fall of 2020, as the result of the state’s consistently high ranking, a new two-year collaborative reporting project, “Gun Violence in Missouri – Seeking Solutions,” involving the Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Springfield News-Leader was initiated. With more than $500,000 in outside funding, the goal of the project was detailed in Gateway Journalism Review, “Instead of merely recounting a seemingly endless stream of shootings on a daily or weekly basis, the idea was to do in-depth reporting on why Missouri ranks so high on the list, not only of deaths involving minorities but also violent crime generally.” As Star editor Ian Cummings told the publication, “We wanted to go beyond daily reporting and look at a big issue – its causes and consequences. We are looking for solutions, pushing coverage of what we have done before.” Black Homicide Victimization Rate in Missouri and the United States 2004 - 2018 60.00 ■ 55.00 50.00 ■ ■ 45.00 ■ 40.00 ■ 35.00 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 30.00 ■ ■ ■ 25.00 20.00 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 15.00 ■ 10.00 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 ■ U.S. Rate ■ Missouri Rate VICTIM/OFFENDER RELATIONSHIP For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 76 percent of Black victims (2,267 out of 2,995) were killed by someone they knew.