State Criminology Report

STATE CRIMINOLOGY REPORT Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: (12, November, 2010) State Criminology Report In the Commonwealth Virginia, there was a decline in the crime rate by 19 percent from 1999 to 2008. This trend was almost similar to the national crime in USA where the decline was by 13 percent. Just like in Virginia the national crime rates has been experiencing a consistent decline (Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), 2009). This is at a slightly higher rate compared to the national crime rate of 13 percent. This paper will analyze the trend in crime rate in Virginia in the span of ten years that occurred between 1999 and 2008. In addition the paper will analyze the nature of the crimes and highlights on the events which might have contributed to the decrease. This analysis will satisfy the need to have accurate data on crime as a base from which to develop strategies to fight crime. With this knowledge, the community can know how and where to assist in prevention and deterrence of criminal activities through social activities that are instigated by the community. The breakdown in Crime Rates A comparison by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on the crime rates between Virginia and other states between 1999 and 2008 ranked Virginia at position 41 and 39 out of the 50 states for violent crime rate and property crime rate respectively. The state rated No. 1 was the state with the highest crime rate and no. 50 as one with the least crime rate. There was a 5.1 percent decline in Virginia, as compared to 3 percent nationwide from 2007 to 2008 alone. The violent crimes include murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. There was a decline in the crime rate by offense in the ten years between 1999 and 2008, in addition, the murder rate declined by 13 percent, forcible rape by 2.6 percent and aggravated assault rate by 22.9 percent. However there was an increase in the rate of robbery which increased by 1.3 percent. This robbery crime rate was however curbed in 2008 and there was a decline in robberies by 3.4 percent between 2007 and 2008. The report identified that there was a 15 percent property index crime rate from 1999 to 2008. The State normally has two sources of data, the FBI and DCJS. The FBI data indicated that there was a 6 percent decrease in the drug arrest rate in Virginia as compared to the nation’s 4 percent. The DCJS data however indicated an increase of 3 percent. Hampton Road and Central had the highest drug arrest rates in 1999. There was a decline in both regions but the West Central Region had a higher rate of drug arrests than Central. However Hampton road still had the highest drug arrest rate within the state. There was an increase in the drugs arrest rate in Western Central and Southwest regions. This corresponds with an increase in crime rates in these two regions; this shows that there is a positive correlation between drugs and crime. In 2009 there were 4487 offenses on forcible rape, the highest perpetrators i.e. 1099 being by acquaintances as compared to only 346 strangers (Virginia Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 2010), whereby 44 percent of this crimes were committed between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm with October having the highest rate. Most female and male victims were under 17 years of age, (532 males out of 659 and 2406 females out of the total of 4099). Most victims were white i.e. 3343 as compared to 960 blacks, while domestic rape and rape by relatives was reported more in 1999. Most offenders were male aged between 18 and 35, most of them being white; this data can be used to infer that the offences were not related to race. In 2009 robbery was highest in the month of January mostly on individuals, and most of it (43.4%) happening between 6.00pm and 11.59 pm. Most victims were male of white race, even as, most offenders of the robberies committed were done by black males (6484 as compared to 1327 white male offenders), between the ages of 18 to 35. Poverty and unemployment would be attributed as the reason for these crimes as this age group has to feed for their families. Table 1. Total violent Index crime rate for Virginia State and the US Total Violent Index Crime RateDescriptionPercent changeDescription1998-20082007-2008US Violent Index Crime Rate -13.1-2.7Virginia Violent Index Crime Rate -18.7-5.1Virginia Murder rate-13.0-11.3Forcible rape rate -2.6-0.4Robbery rate +1.3-3.4Aggravated assault rate-22.9-6.8US Property Index Crime Rate-14.2+1.6Virginia Property Index Crime Rate-17.7+2.1US Drug arrests rate (FBI)-3.6-8.1Virginia Drug arrests rate (FBI)-6.2-4.1Virginia Drug arrests rate (DCJS)2.9-7.2 EMBED MSGraph.Chart.8 \s 
 Regional and Geographical Differences Different Geographical regions experience different crime rates. This variance is caused by the macrosocial perspective that relates crime rates to social organization and the individual perspective (Ousey, 2000). The macrosocial perspective reflects crime as reflection of the organization in the community. According to Ousey, there is a direct relation between poverty, unemployment and the level of economic distress. There are two perspectives which can explain variations in crime rate, the social stratification and social control. According to Ousey, 2000 the higher the social stratification the higher the increase in crime rate and consequently the higher the informal social control the lower the crime rate. Social control factors include the family structure, residential stability, community involvement, and the collective facilities that are available in the mentioned region. The social structure refers to the distribution of the positions, networks and institutions that form the basic framework within the community. The social culture beliefs refer to the values and norms of a certain society. The demographics, in...