Friday, November 18, 2011
(graphic: crimefilenews.com)
Homicides in the U.S. have fallen significantly over the past 20 years, based on the latest statistics from the Justice Department.
In 1993, there were 9.5 murders per 100,000 Americans. By 2010, that rate had been cut in half, down to 4.8—the lowest rate since 1963’s 4.6.
The decline follows several decades in which the homicide rate was often rising, with only brief periods when it wasn’t.
From 1963 to 1974, the rate more than doubled, from 4.6 to 9.8.
During the 1980s, the rate dipped from 10.2 in 1980 to 7.9 in 1984. It rose again in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to another peak in 1991 (9.8).
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008 (Bureau of Justice Statistics) (pdf)
No. HS-23. Crimes and Crime Rates by Type of Offense: 1960 to 2002 (U.S. Census Bureau) (pdf)
10 Possible Explanations for the Drop in the U.S. Crime Rate (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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