news nation) – Violence at the hands of strangers is on the rise, following the recent controversy over seemingly random attacks, but currently available data does not clearly confirm or refute this notion.
a. The events, including three killed in a shooting in Detroit and one punch that sent a man into a coma in New York, have been making headlines in recent weeks.
However, data on the frequency of violent crimes among foreigners are ambiguous, aggravated by gaps in local police reports, unsolved cases and, at times, by the nuanced relationship between victim and perpetrator.
In 2019 – the most recent data available – 28.3% of homicide victims were killed by someone they knew other than family members, according to the FBI, of these victims, 13% were killed by family members and about 10 % from strangers. The relationship between homicide victims and perpetrators was unknown in 48.9% of homicide and involuntary homicide cases.
Maria Tcherni-Buzzeo is Director of the PhD Criminal Justice Program at New Haven University and is Research Director of the Liberty Initiative. At the beginning of each semester, she asks her students the same question: Do you think crime has increased, decreased or stayed the same?
“Many students think it’s rising, even though it’s been falling for (almost) 25 years,” said Tcherny-Buzzeo.
According to the Criminal Justice Council (CCJ), the number of homicides in the 23 cities included in the July report decreased by 2% in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021. However, the homicide rate is still 39%. higher than the previous one. Pandemic in the first half of 2019.
Historically, homicides have dropped significantly nationwide since the early 1990s. The homicide rate for cities included in this year’s CCJ study was nearly half that of the same cities in 1993.
“The (student’s) footprint is based on media reports and crime dramas,” said Tcherni-Buzzeo. “They are so popular. The real situation gets lost in the mix.
The crime as a whole is more likely to occur between people who know each other or are related to each other. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, information on violent criminals chasing strangers is less comprehensive, but individual reports offer insight into specific trends in recent years.
A study, published in 2012 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, found that strangers committed about 38 percent of nonviolent crimes in 2010, including sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and assault. simple facts.
This is about 1.8 million non-fatal violent crimes, down 77% from 1993, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
According to the report, crimes committed by strangers were more likely to involve firearms, but between 2005 and 2010, victims were more likely to be injured by a known perpetrator than by an unknown.
Furthermore, from 2005 to 2008, about 43% of the murders known to have been committed by a stranger occurred during a robbery or argument.
In some cases, “until the last minute, we don’t even know who will be the victim and who will be the perpetrator,” said Tcherni-Buzzeo.
“Our belief in a just world makes us want a situation where the innocent are the victims and the wicked are the perpetrators,” he said. “And the justice system works and punishes the bad and helps the good. I understand it perfectly. I love it and I love the idea that something like this happens, but it’s not really happening “
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