The US bureau of justice statistics (BJS) have published the results of the latest edition of the National Crime Victimization Survey, which presents the results of surveys involving 95,760 households, interviewing 163,880 people over the age of 12. The most noteworthy results, in comparison with 2015, are the following:

• There were 18.6 victimisations due to violent crime (rape or sexual assault, theft with violence, and minor and moderate assaults) per 1,000 persons over 12.
• 0.98% of the population over 12 suffered at least act of violence.
• There were 110.7 victimisations due to violence against property burglaries, thefts and stealing cars) per every 1,000 households.
• 7.60% of US homes suffered at least one crime against property.
• Both the rate of victimisation for violent crime and the rate of crime against property have gone down in comparison with last year, although the difference is slight, according to the BJS statistics (from 20.1 to 18.6 corresponding to violent crime and from 118.1 to 110.7 concerning violence against property).
• 47% of violent crime and 35% of crime against property were reported to the police.
• Apart from rape and sexual assault, of which 32.5% were reported, serious offences were reported in over 50% of cases (thefts with violence, 61.9%, and serious violent offences, 54.9%).
• Over the last year there has been a decrease in the number of burglaries being reported (from 60.0% to 50,8%) and the stealing of vehicles (from 83,3% to 69,0%).

As well as presenting this report, the BJS has also updated the tool used to analyse data related to victimisation (NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool (NVAT), with which one can access these surveys which have been carried out since 1993, with a methodology, definitions and other support documents.

Although the 2015 data is still not available for download purposes, it can be consulted, both via configured tables and by using other systems which can be personalised by the user (there are five different criteria available type of victimisation –personal or property–; timeline –between 1993 and 2015–; type of crime, and two analysis variables, including, among others, age, gender, origin of the victim, if the case has been reported to the police, where the incident took place, etc.).

These results aim to complement the data obtained using the police records mentioned on this blog, Notes de seguretat although comparisons may not be straightforward because each set of records have used a different methodology.

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