Crime

Forty percent of all federal criminal laws enacted from 1850 to 2000 were passed between 1970 and 2000. During the same period, the United States has enjoyed a general reduction in the number of victims of crime. Though the number of victims of violent crime increased 5 percent from 1973 to 1981, and another 16 percent from 1989 to 1994, the intervals between witnessed even greater decreases; the number of victims fell 14 percent between 1981 and 1989, and 48 percent from 1994 to 2005. The mid to late 1990s also saw a 75 percent drop in the incidence of rape and 50 percent drops in the number of robberies and aggravated assaults. Similarly, the number of victims of property crimes, including burglary and theft, fell 75 percent from 1974 to 2006, with the most significant decreases occurring between 1979 and 1984, when the rate fell 25 percent. Auto theft was the only anomaly; after a gradual decline from 1975 to 1985, the rates increased 50 percent between 1985 and 1991. Yet even auto theft experienced a 50 percent decline over the whole period from 1974 to 2000.

Despite the overall decline in the number of victims involved in crimes, the number of incarcerated criminals has skyrocketed; America’s prison and jail populations rose more than 400 percent between 1980 (just over half a million) and 2008 (2 million). The difference between the numbers of victims and the numbers of incarcerated criminals reflects the growing number of drug-related crimes. Some advocates for drug legalization contend that drug use is a “victimless crime” because the user and the perpetrator are one and the same. Opponents of drug legalization maintain that there is no way to estimate the numbers of families and friends harmed by drug abuse, or whether the legalization of drugs would actually lead to lower crime rates.

This unique imbalance between victim and offenders reveals a general shift in the nature of crime in America. The overall rate of crime actually increased 25 percent since 1970, but prior to 1970, most crimes dealt with violence or property without involving drugs. By the early to mid-1970s, drug use and drug trafficking gradually assumed a central role. To some extent, this shift is also related to a gradual decline, in major urban centers, of organized crime, which has been replaced by smaller, less organized, youth street gangs. This phenomenon resulted in a decline of certain kinds of property crimes and violent crimes related to extortion and intimidation. Since the new youth gangs concentrated on drug trafficking, they used violence, not merely for intimidation, but to eliminate the competition. The result was a demographic shift in the murder rate. Prior to 1985 most murders were committed by 25- to 34-year-olds. After that date, the murder rate by perpetrators 14 to 24 years old rose dramatically, while the rate for those aged 25 years and above declined proportionately. While the rate of murder

Violent Crime Rate