Patterns of Offenses and Victimization
Violent crimes in America such as rape, robbery murder, and aggravated assaults are frequent (Rosenfeld, 2014). Law enforcers use crime data to review the pattern of offenses and victimization in the nation or cities. Without crime statistics, it becomes difficult for agencies or government to establish patterns of offenses in the nation or a city, like San Antonio.
Statistics of Murders and Aggravated Assaults
The presented research shows statistics of murders and aggravated assaults for the United States and City of San Antonio for the past four years, 2018 to 2015. The 2018 statistics of the violent crime for the nations are not yet released by the FBI. However, it is approximated that were 394 violent crimes per a population of 100,000 and a projected 1.1% murders plus high aggravated assaults. The 2017 data shows 397 violent crimes per 100,000 occupants were experienced where 65% involved aggravated assaults and 1.4% murders (FBI: UCR, 2017-2015). In 2016, per 100,000 occupants, 386 were violent crimes with 64.3% aggravated assaults and 1.4% murders. In 2015, in a population of 100,000, 372.6 were violent crimes with 63.8% aggravated assaults and 1.3% murders. The Uniform Crime Reports, (2018-2015) statistics for City of San Antonio shows in 2018, approximately 5,890 were the aggravated assaults and103 murders. In 2017, an estimated 7,067 involved aggravated assaults and 125 murders. In 2016, the murders were 149 and aggravated assaults 7,813. The year 2015 further showed 94 murders and 5465 aggravated assaults.
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Evaluation of the National and Local Rates
Based on the presented national and local rates, the national rates tend to be increasing yearly in the aggravated assaults and dropping rates of murders. In the local rates, the aggravated assaults have dropped (Uniform Crime Reports, 2018-2015). The murder rates, on the other hand, have reduced and looking at the trends; it is likely that the rates will further decrease in the coming year. A common aspect seen in the national and local crimes is that the aggravated assaults have high numbers and the murders rates are low. A major difference is that the violent crimes in the local area tend to be decreasing as years go by for both the aggravated assaults and murders while as nationally, the aggravated assaults are increasing.
Definition and Characteristics of Aggravated Assault and Murder
In violent crime, aggravated assault is described as an act where a lawbreaker purposefully causes severe injuries to another either by using a weapon or not. Further, murder is an unlawful act where an offender kills another person out of malice. The two crimes differ because murder leads to death, but aggravated assault does not (Rosenfeld, 2014). Based on the traits, the characteristic for aggravated assault entails the presence of severe body injuries. The offenders are mostly male, and strangers to the victim and most victims are young females. The weapon used may include explosives, sharp objects, mouth bites, or bartering and the crime scenes are homes or dangerous streets. In the case of murder, crimes are premeditated and well-organized with the modus operandi of killing. The offenders in most cases are males and have a close relationship with the victim. The victims are mainly female and of young age. The crime involves the use of weapons mainly guns and knives, and the location of most murders take place in homes.
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Differences in Arrests and Clearance Rates and Cause of the Crimes
Looking at the arrests and clearance rates of both violent crimes nationwide, 2017 data shows in 302,941 aggravated assault arrests, the clearance rates were approximately 53.3%. In murders arrests of 9,468, the clearance rate was 61.6%. The difference between the arrest and clearance rate is that murder clearance rates are high. Possibly, this may be due to the lack of proper identification of the offenders who can be held accountable upon the arrest of the suspect. Hence, most offenders, therefore, end up getting away with murder. On the other hand, the aggravated assaults arrests are high, and clearance rates are low since the victims are usually available to confirm the suspects. The possible reason offenders commit murder and aggravated assault in San Antonio is due to lack of employment or revenge (Rosenfeld, 2014). The best theory to explain the mentioned reasons is the general strain theory. The theory suggests that strain is an aspect that increases negative emotions such as anger, resentment thus creating an individual’s desire to revenge.
Conclusion
In conclusion, upon understanding why most people end up in violent crime, law enforcers and other agencies can establish approaches to help the perpetrators. This is important since it minimizes the patterns of offenses and victimization in regions, local areas and the nation at large. Law enforcement helps to prevent damages that could occur and also enhance the security of the persons in the area.
References
Rosenfeld, R. (2014). Understanding homicide and aggravated assault. In Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice (pp. 5355-5370). Springer, New York, NY.
Uniform Crime Reports, (2018-2015). The City of San Antonio. Retrieved from https://www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD/Uniform-Crime-Reports#30261650-2015
FBI:UCR, (2017-2015), Crime in the United StatesRetrieved from: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in- the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/violent-crime
