Crime in the United States 2011

Since 1996, editions of Crime in the United States have been available on the FBI’s Web site www.fbi.gov. First released in Portable Document Format (PDF) files, more recent editions have been published in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program staff are committed to improving their annual publications so that the data they collect can better meet the needs of law enforcement, criminologists, sociologists, legislators, municipal planners, the media, and other students of criminal justice who use the statistics for varied administrative, research, and planning purposes. For more information about how the UCR Program collects data, see About the Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Data provided

Crime in the United States, 2011, presents data tables containing information on the topics listed below. Data users can download Microsoft Excel spreadsheets of the data tables and Adobe PDFs of most of the text shown.

Offenses Known to Law Enforcement—Includes information about violent crime offenses (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and property crime offenses (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson).

Expanded offense data—Provides additional data that the program collects on the eight offenses. Depending on the offense, these details may include the type of weapon and the type and value of items stolen. For the offense of murder, expanded homicide data include information about murder victims, offenders, and circumstances that are collected as supplemental homicide data.

Clearances—Furnishes information about crimes “solved” either by arrest or exceptional means.

Persons Arrested—Provides the number of arrests made by law enforcement and the age, gender, and race of arrestees for the 28 offenses (see Offense Definitions) for which the UCR Program publishes arrest data.

Police Employee Data—Supplies information regarding sworn officers and civilian law enforcement personnel.

Agencies contributing data

The table below shows the number of law enforcement agencies contributing data to the UCR Program within each population group for 2011. Information published in Crime in the United States, 2011, reflects data from these agencies.

Population Group	Number of Agencies	Population Covered
I (250,000 inhabitants and more)	75	56,398,148
II (100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants)	209	31,323,512
III (50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants)	473	32,816,692
IV (25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants)	888	30,762,527
V (10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants)	1,929	30,586,844
VI (Less than 10,000 inhabitants) 1, 2	9,499	26,669,678
VIII (Nonmetropolitan County)2	3,049	30,821,138
IX (Metropolitan County)2	2,111	72,213,378
Total	18,233	311,591,917

¹Includes universities and colleges to which no population is attributed.

²Includes state police to which no population is attributed.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) participation

In 2011, 29.4 percent of state programs and the District of Columbia reported all of their crime statistics via the NIBRS. This represented 28 percent of the U.S. population covered by UCR participants and accounted for 27 percent of all crime reported to the UCR Program. Thirty-six states are currently certified to report via the NIBRS. Among agencies within those states, more than 40 percent reported all of their statistics via the NIBRS.

What do you think?

The E-Government Act of 2002 (E-Gov), enacted by Congress, promotes more efficient uses of information technology by the federal government. This Web publication is a result of the UCR Program’s response to that Act. We welcome your feedback via our short evaluation form. Your comments will help us improve the presentation of future releases of Crime in the United States.

What you won’t find in this publication

Rankings by crime levels—Any comparisons of crime among different locales should take into consideration numerous other factors besides the areas’ crime statistics. Therefore, the UCR Program does not provide rankings of localities by crime levels. Cautions Against Ranking provides more details concerning the proper use of UCR statistics.

Information about unreported crime—Crime in the United States features data collected from law enforcement agencies regarding only those offenses known to police. However, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), another agency within the Department of Justice, administers the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Using data from the NCVS, the BJS publishes information regarding crimes not reported to the police. For more information about the NCVS and how its data differ from information presented in Crime in the United States, see The Nation’s Two Crime Measures.

County crime totals and “raw data”—Crime in the United States offers crime data from local and county law enforcement agencies in separate tables. These data, which are also presented individually within a county (Crime by County), and other 2011 “raw data” from the UCR Program’s master files will be available sometime after the release of the 2011 publication. For more information, contact the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division via e-mail at cjis_comm@leo.gov.

Special studies—In previous years, Crime in the United States included special studies analyzing UCR data. Such studies are now released separately from the publication as monographs on www.fbi.gov.

Crime data for 2012—Preliminary statistics for January through June 2012 will be available on the Web in the fall of 2012 and replaced with preliminary data for all of 2012 in the spring of 2013. Crime in the United States, 2012, will be published on the Web in the fall of 2013.

The Central Park Five Trailer

Chris Rock on Gun Control

Everybody is talking about gun control. Got to control guns. Fuck that . . . I think we need bullet control. I think every bullet should cost five thousand dollars. Five thousand dollars for a bullet. Know why? 'Cause if a bullet cost five thousand dollars . . . people would think before they shot some. "Man, I would blow your fucking head off, if I could afford it. I'm gonna get me a second job, start saving up, and you a dead man." - Chris Rock

Justice Nice

Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository

Idaho State Judiciary

Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository

Name Search

Case Number Search

Court Calendars

As of May 27, 2008 case information is available for examination from all 44 Idaho Counties. 

This information will be displayed according to Idaho Court Administrative Rule (ICAR) 32.

The status of both pending and closed cases is available to the public. However, to ensure personal privacy, the following information is not provided to the public: 

• the first six characters of social security numbers
• street addresses
• telephone numbers
• any personal identification numbers (including motor vehicle operator's license numbers and financial account numbers)

Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers

Feds Join Shooting Probe

From the Spokesman Review:

A man charged with attempted second-degree murder in connection with a shot targeting three black youths was ordered held in jail Tuesday as federal authorities also indicated that they would investigate the shooting as a possible hate crime.

Jimmy J. Blackburn, 29, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza, who ordered Blackburn to remain in custody on a $500,000 bond. Cozza set Blackburn’s trial on the three attempted murder charges for Nov. 19.

Blackburn was arrested Sept. 13 as Spokane police officers converged at the Days Inn, at 120 W. Third Ave., to investigate the shooting of Paul A. Haney, 33, who was found dead in the parking lot.

According to court records, investigators believe Kevin M. Heaton, 35, is responsible for that shooting and remains on the loose. Heaton had paid for the room in which Blackburn was found at the Days Inn, but the court records don’t indicate whether Blackburn had any involvement in the Haney shooting.

Outside the hotel, however, investigators found a red 2012 Rocketa Sicily moped that was linked to a shooting the day before near 33rd Avenue and Thor Street.

In that case, three black youths were walking on 33rd Avenue at 4:20 p.m. on Sept. 12 when they heard a white man yelling racial slurs at them. That man was later identified as Blackburn, according to court records.

Blackburn challenged them to fight. “At this time, (Blackburn) asked the victims, ‘Have you guys ever had a gun pointed at you?'” according to court records.

Blackburn then walked over to the moped – which had been reported stolen earlier that day – and grabbed a locked pistol box, the records say. Unable to open it, Blackburn threw it on the ground several times until it opened.

According to one of the boys, Blackburn “pointed the handgun” at them and said “they could have a six second head start before he shoots them,” court records state. Blackburn then began yelling for someone named “Suicide” to come out of the house at 3304 E. 33rd Ave.

Full article can be found here.

SEC Warns on Rise of Affinity Fraud

From AdvisorOne:

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Investor Education and Advocacy on Wednesday issued an Investor Alert to help educate investors about affinity fraud, a type of investment scam that the agency is seeing more of that preys upon members of identifiable groups, such as religious or ethnic communities or the elderly.

As the SEC explains, affinity fraud almost always involves either a fake investment or an investment where the fraudster lies about important details (such as the risk of loss, the track record of the investment, or the background of the promoter of the scheme). "Many affinity frauds are Ponzi or pyramid schemes, where money given to the promoter by new investors is paid to earlier investors to create the illusion that the so-called investment is successful," the SEC says.

Fraudsters who carry out affinity scams frequently are (or pretend to be) members of the group they are trying to defraud. “Fraudsters target any group they think they can convince to trust them with the group members’ hard-earned savings,” the SEC says.

For instance, a recent SEC action was against a Ponzi scheme promoter who sold promissory notes bearing purported annual interest rates of 12% to 20%, telling primarily African-American investors that the funds would be used to purchase and support small businesses such as a laundry, juice bar, or gas station. The promoter, the SEC says, also sold “sweepstakes machines” that he claimed would generate investor returns of as much as 300% or more in the first year.

At its core, the SEC says, “affinity fraud exploits the trust and friendship that exist in groups of people who have something in common.” And “because of the tight-knit structure of many groups, it can be difficult for regulators or law enforcement officials to detect an affinity scam.” Victims often fail to notify authorities or pursue legal remedies. Instead, they try to work things out within the group. This is particularly true where the fraudsters have used respected community or religious leaders to convince others to join the investment.

Full article can be found here.

IRS Boosts Staff in Tax Refund fraud

Tampa Bay Online:

The Internal Revenue Service is tripling the number of staff members nationwide who are dedicated to addressing the issue of identity theft tax refund fraud, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said.

Castor, the Tampa Democrat, said she was briefed Friday by IRS officials regarding progress the agency is making to tackle the epidemic of fraud in which the Tampa area leads the nation.

Thieves use stolen personal information — such as names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers — to file tax returns with fake income information and obtain fraudulent tax refunds.

According to a recent inspector general report, thieves in the Tampa area alone stole more than $400 billion last year from federal taxpayers this way. Nationwide, identity thieves are stealing billions from the federal government through refund fraud.

Castor said the IRS assured her it is increasing its screening filters, designed to detect fraudulent returns before refunds are issued. Across the board, law enforcement officials have repeatedly said the fraud is so pervasive, it cannot be stopped by arrests and prosecutions — that the IRS needs to stop sending "refunds" to thieves.

The IRS told Castor that so far this year, it has prevented 2.3 million fraudulent refunds from being issued, totaling $15 billion. That's compared to 1.4 million fraudulent refunds stopped in 2011, worth $11 billion.

Part of that effort apparently involves increasing scrutiny of tax filings originating from Tampa, Castor noted.

"I said, 'Geographically, where you know there is an epidemic, like the Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida, I assume filters are place.' They said yes.

"They say they're on the cusp of instituting many, multiple new filters to prevent the fraud from happening in the first place," Castor said.

"So they will flag, for example, multiple returns coming to the same address. That's a question I keep getting. How can it be that the IRS is sending multiple debit cards and returns to the same address over and over?"

Castor also noted something police have been saying: often crooks will use the same fake numbers repeatedly on numerous returns. For example, two suspects indicted this week were accused of filing 17 tax returns, each seeking refunds of $1,453.

The new filters, Castor says she was assured, "will flag that."

While Castor was encouraged by the new IRS approach, she added, "I know from the folks coming to my office with checks and calls and people I see in the grocery store, this is still a huge problem and we've got to continue to press the IRS until Tampa no longer is number one for tax fraud."

Full article can be found here.

Iowa State Nice

Iowa Launches Website Listing Blood Alcohol Tests

A website recently launched by the state will allow the public, as well as law enforcement, to search for breath alcohol test results, certification records on breath test machines and officers’ alcohol training status.

Criminalist Jim Bleskacek of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said he proposed the idea to ensure the breath-testing equipment is working and accurate because those results can determine whether someone will be charged and possibly convicted of operating while intoxicated.

The DCI is responsible for making sure the breath alcohol equipment is maintained properly and certification is updated,” Bleskacek, said. “The equipment is certified once a year, according to Iowa code, but we probably check the calibration and do maintenance about every 10 months.”Criminalist Jim Bleskacek of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said he proposed the idea to ensure the breath-testing equipment is working and accurate because those results can determine whether someone will be charged and possibly convicted of operating while intoxicated.

Bleskacek said while the intent of the site is to provide complete transparency, it also protects the rights of individuals, who in many cases have only been arrested and not charged and convicted. The names and driver’s licenses are not included in the statistics or results.

“You would have to know a date of birth in order to bring up a specific person’s results,” Bleskacek said.

The site allows the public to search for breath alcohol tests by county, date range, gender or name of officer, Bleskacek said. The 170 breath test machines in the state automatically download the data for the site via the Internet. Bleskacek monitors the site every day to ensure everything is properly uploading and there are no malfunctions.

The test results are usually posted within 12 to 24 hours of the arrest, Bleskacek said.

Mike Lahammer, Cedar Rapids defense attorney, said he checked out the site and doesn’t see any privacy issues.

“It’s interesting information and would be a good resource to look at certification (of equipment) and history of an officer,” Lahammer said.

“The statistics of average blood alcohol content levels are interesting but not really valuable for a defense,” Lahammer said. “In a defense, you look at the individual and the circumstances like their weight, height, age, how much they drank over a period of time, what time of day was it.”

Full article can be found at the Gazette here.

Warrantless wiretap bill passes in US House, Authorizes 5 More Years of Domestic Spying

From the Verge:

In a 301 to 118 decision, the US House of Representatives has voted in favor of the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012, a bill which will extend the US government's previously established warrantless wiretapping programs for the next five years. The bill preserves far-reaching and highly controversial enhancements to government surveillance powers granted under amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 2008, and has been met with considerable resistance from privacy groups and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.

FISA was originally tasked with preventing American citizens from being spied on following a 1978 scandal that found Richard Nixon's administration using US intelligence agencies to target activists and political opponents. But those protections have since been severely eroded, first by the USA Patriot Act in 2001, and again by the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, greatly expanding government surveillance powers to allow warrantless wiretapping of phone, email, and other communications.

Full article can be found here.