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Crimes Against Persons
* Note: These pages are graphic intensive.
Crimes against persons rose 3.1% in 1995 when compared with 1994. The rise, which is
relatively minimal, could have been expected following last year's dramatic 27.3% decline
in crimes against persons. The 1,083 reported incidents are just 33 more than recorded
during 1994 and still represent the lowest number since 1989 when 1,063 were reported.
Since 1987, violent crime had shown an upward trend with only calendar year 1989
experiencing a 5% decline. When comparing 1995 to the previous year, increases occurred in
rapes (4.4%), robberies (3.0%), and aggravated assaults (3.3%). Homicides remained the
same as eight incidents occurred in both 1994 and 1995.
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Homicide
The UCR program defines homicide as "the willful (non-negligent) killing of one
human being by another." Generally, any death due to injuries received in a fight,
argument, quarrel, assault or commission of a crime is counted as a homicide. Suicides,
accidental deaths, assaults to murder, traffic fatalities, and attempted murders are not
counted as homicides. The number of homicides occurring during 1995 remained the same as
in 1994. Eight incidents were recorded in each year. In looking at homicides from a
historical perspective, the numbers are so relatively small that calculating the rate of
change from one year to the next can be misleading. A more realistic gauge is the average
number of incidents recorded over a defined period. Since 1987, the number of homicides
within the City has ranged from a low of six in both 1989 and 1990 to a high of 13 in
1991. The 73 homicides recorded since 1987 averages to 8.1 per year which makes 1995 an
average year. |
Rape
The UCR definition of rape is "the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and
against her will." Rapes or attempts to commit rape accomplished by force or threat
of force are included while statutory rape, without force and with the female victim under
18 years of age, are excluded. Rapes rose from 46 in 1994 to 48 in 1995, a 4.4% increase.
This breaks a three-year trend in which rapes had declined. The number of rapes dropped
25.4% in 1992, 2.0% in 1993, and 6.1% in 1994. Between 1987 and 1995, the number of rapes
ranged from 46 to 67, an average of 57.3 per year. The 48 for 1995 reflects an overall
decline of 16.2% from this average. |
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Aggravated Assault
Aggravated assault is defined by the UCR system as "an unlawful attack by one
person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This
type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to
produce death or great bodily harm. Attempts are included since it is not necessary that
an injury result when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could and probably would
result in serious personal injury if the crime were successfully completed." The
number of aggravated assaults rose from 489 in 1994 to 505 in 1995, a 3.3% increase.
Viewed against the historical trend from 1987, this increase is not particularly
significant. From 1987 to 1993, aggravated assaults increased 52.5%, an average of 8.8%
each year. There was a 16.7% increase between 1989 and 1990 and a 2.0% decrease between
1990 and 1991. The number of aggravated assaults in 1994 was the fewest since the 440
incidents recorded in 1987 and reflected a 27.1% decrease from the peak year of 1993. The
505 incidents for 1995 are the fewest occurring in a calendar year since 1988 when 491
aggravated assaults were reported. |
| Figure 12 gives a pictorial view of the weapons of choice for aggravated assaults in
1995. Other dangerous weapons were utilized in 52.3% of the cases and include, but are not
limited to: clubs, bricks, jack handles, tire irons, bottles, or other blunt instruments
used to club or beat victims, explosives, acid, lye, poison, scalding water, burning, etc.
Firearms were used in 8.7% of the assaults, followed by knives (22.2%), and hands, fists
and feet (16.8%). All of the incidents in which hands, fists, or feet were used as the
weapon resulted in serious personal injury, e.g., broken bones, internal injuries, or
where stitches were required. The decrease in the use of firearms in aggravated assaults
is very encouraging news. In 1994, firearms were used in nearly one-fourth of the assaults
(24.7%), up dramatically from the 16.4% recorded in 1993. Between 1987 and 1995, firearms
were used in an average of 13.4% of aggravated assaults |
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Robbery
Robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care,
custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or
by putting the victim in fear." It differs from a larceny in that a perpetrator must
commit a robbery in the presence of the victim and the property is taken by the use or
threatened use of force. The number of robberies rose from 507 incidents in 1994 to 522 in
1995. This represents a 3.0% increase. Between 1987 and 1993, robberies increased an
average of 9.3% each year. This was in spite of an 11.8% decrease recorded between 1988
and 1989 and a meager 1.7% increase between 1992 and 1993. In 1994, robberies declined
29.2%.
The predominant method of force used during 1995 robberies was physical force,
comprising 50.0% of the total. Firearms were used in 33.9% of the cases, knives in 9.2%,
and other weapons including clubs, acid, explosives, brass knuckles, or other dangerous
weapons in 6.9% of the incidents. Figure 14 displays the weapons used in 1995 robberies.
Streets/alleys were the most frequent location or type of robbery, accounting for 66.0% of
the crimes. Figure 15 depicts the breakdown of robberies by location or type. Both the
percentages of robberies by weapons and by robbery types virtually mirror the numbers
recorded for 1994. |
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This page was last modified on
01/26/2008
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