CHAPTER 8
CRIME

VICTIMIZATION OF MINORITIES

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics has found that certain population groups—the poor, younger persons, males, African-Americans, Hispanics, and residents of inner cities—are more likely to be victimized and are more vulnerable to violence than other groups. As discussed in other chapters of this book, African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be poor and to be unemployed than are whites. These factors put minorities at an especially high risk of being victimized.

Violent Crimes

African-Americans are more likely than individuals of other races to be victims of violent crimes. According to 2002 statistics released by the U.S. Department of Justice, for every 1,000 persons in each racial group there were twenty-eight violent crimes committed against African-Americans, twenty-three committed against whites, and fifteen against persons of other races. During 2002 Hispanics were victimized at a rate of twenty-four per 1,000, down 56 percent from fifty-five per 1,000 in 1993. The rate of violent crimes in each group had declined significantly between 1993 and 2000. (See Table 8.1.)

HOMICIDE.

African-Americans are also more likely than other groups to be victims of homicides. Historically, African-American males between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four have had the highest homicide victimization rate. That proportion rose from 89.8 homicide victims per 100,000 population in 1976 to 100.2 homicide victims per 100,000 population in 2000, but the number has actually dropped steadily since peaking at 183.4 in 1993. The homicide victimization rate among white men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four has also risen, from 11.3 homicides per 100,000 population in 1976 to 12.1 homicides per 100,000 in 2000. Again, there was a spike in the early 1990s, with the victimization rate topping out at 18.2 in 1991. Among African-American and white women, the homicide victimization rate decreased in all age categories between 1976 and 2000. (See Table 8.2.)

Circumstances surrounding homicides tend to vary from racial group to racial group. Of homicide victims between 1976 and 2000 who were killed by family members, 59.8 percent were white and 37.8 percent were African-American. In drug-related disputes that resulted in homicide in those same years, 62.3 percent of the victims were African-American, while only 36.8 percent of the victims were white. In gang-related homicides between 1976 and 2000, the victims were most often white (58.2 percent), while African-Americans accounted for 38.4 percent of the victims. (See Table 8.3.)

According to the Department of Justice, between 1976 and 2000 most murders of whites were perpetrated by whites (86 percent), while most murders of African-Americans were carried out by African-Americans (94 percent).

Property Crimes

In 2001 African-Americans were more likely than whites to be victims of property crime. That year, 42.8 African-Americans per 1,000 persons were burgled, compared to 26.6 per 1,000 white persons. Approximately 16.1 African-Americans per 1,000 had a vehicle stolen, compared to 8.2 per 1,000 whites. Yet the trend reversed for other types of theft, as 120.8 African-Americans per 1,000 experienced thefts other than burglary and motor vehicle in 2000, compared to 130.3 whites per 1,000. (See Table 8.4.)

Hispanics were more likely to be victims of property crime than non-Hispanics. In 2001, 224.1 Hispanics per 1,000 persons reported a burglary or theft, compared to 161.3 non-Hispanics per 1,000 persons. Hispanics (19.8 per 1,000 persons) were more than two times as likely as non-Hispanics (8.2 per 1,000 persons) to experience motor vehicle thefts. (See Table 8.4.)

MINORITIES AS OFFENDERS

African-Americans—particularly males—commit a higher number of offenses as a proportion of the population than other groups. Throughout the 1990s African-American males between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four made up a growing proportion of homicide offenders. In 1994 African-American males between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four made up more than 30 percent of homicide offenders, but that number has since decreased somewhat. (See Figure 8.1.)

African-American offenders are most likely to commit homicides over drug-related activity. Between 1976 and 2000, 66.3 percent of homicide offenders who had committed their crimes under drug-related circumstances were African-American. A high proportion of felony murders (deaths that occur during such violent crimes as burglary, sexual assault, or robbery) between those years were committed by African-Americans (59.2 percent). Of homicides in the years spanning 1976 and 2000 that involved an intimate victim/offender relationship, 44.4 percent of the offenders were African-American. During those same years, in homicides where a gun was the weapon of choice, 54.6 percent of the offenders were African-American. (See Table 8.3.)

In workplace-related murders between 1976 and 2000, a high proportion of the offenders were white (70.2 percent), while 26.9 percent were African-American. Of gang-related homicides committed between 1976 and 2000, 56.7 percent of the offenders were white. Murders of family members were committed most often by whites (58.3 percent). White offenders accounted for 54.5 percent of arson deaths and 74.3 percent of deaths by poisoning between 1976 and 2000. (See Table 8.3.)

Between 1976 and 2000, when a white homicide offender killed a stranger, the victim was also white between 40 to 50 percent of the time. When an African-American offender killed a stranger, the victim was also African-American at roughly the same percentage. When homicide offenders kill friends or acquaintances, the victim is even more likely to be of the same race. Figure 8.2

shows the racial breakdown of murders between 1976 and 2000.

MINORITIES IN PRISONS AND JAILS

In June 2002 there were more non-Hispanic African-American males in state or federal prisons or local jails than there were non-Hispanic white or Hispanic males. Of a total of 1.9 million incarcerated males, 818,900 were non-Hispanic African-Americans, 630,700 were non-Hispanic whites, and 342,500 were Hispanics. The largest proportion of non-Hispanic African-American males in the prison population was between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine. The largest proportion of non-Hispanic white males was between the ages of thirty and thirty-four. The largest proportion of Hispanic males was between the ages of twenty and twenty-four. (See Table 8.5.)

In addition to a greater total number of non-Hispanic African-Americans males in federal or state prisons or local jails, the rate of incarceration for African-American males greatly outnumbers the proportions of non-Hispanic whites and Hispanic males. For every 100,000 African-American males in the United States in June 2002, there were 4,810 African-American male inmates. This proportion is much higher than that among non-Hispanic whites, with 649 inmates for every 100,000 residents in the same period. Among Hispanic men, there were 1,740 inmates for every 100,000 residents. (See Table 8.6.)

Unlike their male counterparts, non-Hispanic African-American women did not outnumber non-Hispanic white women in federal and state prisons or local jails in June 2002. There were 68,800 non-Hispanic white women incarcerated, compared to 65,600 non-Hispanic African-American women and 25,400 Hispanic women. The largest proportion of non-Hispanic white inmates was between the ages of thirty-five and thirty-nine. The largest proportion of non-Hispanic African-American and Hispanic women inmates was between the ages of thirty and thirty-four. (See Table 8.5.)

Yet the rate of incarceration for non-Hispanic African-American females is, like that for African-American males, higher than that of non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics in the nation's federal and state prisons or local jails. In June 2002 there were 349 African-American female inmates for every 100,000 persons in that demographic group. In comparison, there were only sixty-eight non-Hispanic white female inmates for every 100,000 persons. Among Hispanic women, there were 137 inmates per 100,000 persons. (See Table 8.6.)

The Parole System

Since African-Americans account for the largest proportion of prison and jail inmates, it is no surprise that African-Americans outnumber other racial and ethnic groups in the nation's parole system. The parole system grants inmates early release from prison with fewer rights than the general population and under monitored conditions.

In 2002, 42 percent of inmates paroled from state prisons were non-Hispanic African-Americans. Whites made up 39 percent of the parolees from state prisons, while Hispanics accounted for 18 percent of Americans on parole from state prisons. (See Table 8.7.)

The proportion of whites on parole from state prisons rose slightly between 1995 and 2002, from 34 to 39 percent. Conversely, the proportion of African-Americans on parole from state prisons decreased slightly between 1995 and 2002, from 45 to 42 percent. Among Hispanics, the proportion of people on parole from state prisons also decreased slightly between 1995 and 2002, from 21 to 18 percent. (See Table 8.7.)

Many more men than women are on parole. In 2002, 86 percent of state prison parole entries were men, compared to only 14 percent women. (See Table 8.7.)

African-American Men Arrested Disproportionately

The Sentencing Project, an organization that seeks alternatives to incarceration, has published several reports showing racial disparities in state imprisonment. An analysis of the Justice Department report on prison and jail inmates in 2001 found that one of every eight African-American men between the ages of twenty-four and thirty-five was either in

prison or in jail on any given day. It also pointed out that the high incarceration rate among African-American men and African-American women leads to another disturbing trend—one in every fourteen African-American children has a parent who is either in prison or in jail.

In addition, the Sentencing Project concluded that the high rate of incarceration among African-Americans will hurt the African-American community in other ways. The political influence of the African-American community suffers when African-Americans are incarcerated because in twelve states those convicted of felonies lose their voting rights. According to the Sentencing Project, that amounts to roughly 13 percent of adult African-American males. Restrictions are also placed on such things as loans for higher education, access to welfare, and public housing for those with felony drug convictions.

In 1996 the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco conducted a study of California's prisons. The study found that, while African-American men made up only 7 percent of the state's population, they accounted for 32 percent of its prison population. Vincent Schiraldi, director of the center and author of the study, believed that the high number of African-American prisoners was due to tougher punishment for use of crack cocaine than for other drugs. He further cited additional causes: stricter sentencing laws, California's prison construction boom, poverty, the lack of good jobs, and poor education in inner cities. Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist at Carnegie Mellon University, attributed the disproportionate figures to the war on drugs, in which police had focused their efforts in the inner cities because the drug trade was often conducted openly by African-American men.

Schiraldi predicted that California's "three strikes" law (automatic life sentence for criminals convicted of three felonies and double the usual sentences for those convicted of a second serious offense) would likely further increase the disproportionate number of young African-American men in the state's prisons. He also stated that African-Americans are charged at seventeen times the rate of whites under the three strikes law.

Hispanic Youth and the Criminal Justice System

While much attention has been given to the fact that African-Americans are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, a report released in 2002 by Michigan State University's Institute for Children, Youth, and Families points to a growing number of Hispanic youths being targeted by law enforcement. The study, ¿Dónde Está la Justicia? A Call to Action on Behalf of the Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S Justice System, found that Hispanic youths are often treated more harshly than their white counterparts and suggests that the problem will only intensify since Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the country.

Minorities on Death Row

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in Capital Punishment 2002 (Washington, DC, 2003), that 3,557 state and federal prisoners were incarcerated under sentence of death as of December 31, 2002. Whites made up 54.3 percent and African-Americans comprised 43.7 percent of all death-row prisoners. Only 2 percent were of other races, including twenty-seven Native Americans and thirty-three Asians. Of those whose ethnicity was known, 11.5 percent were Hispanic. (See Table 8.8.)

Of those sentenced to death row in 2002, 52.2 percent were white, 45.9 percent were African-American, and 1.9 percent were other races, which included one Native American and two Asians. Hispanics made up 14.9 percent of those sentenced to death row in 2002. (See Table 8.8.)

In 1976 a ten-year moratorium on executions ended as a result of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The first execution that followed the moratorium occurred in 1977. Per the Bureau of Justice Statistics report Capital Punishment 2002, between 1977 and 2002, 6,532 persons in state and federal prisons were under death sentences. Of these, 49 percent were white, 41 percent were African-American, 8 percent were Hispanic, and 2 percent were of other races. Figure 8.3 shows the increase in numbers of prisoners awaiting death, by race, between 1968 and 2002.

Capital Punishment 2002 also noted that from 1977 to 2002, 820 prisoners were executed. Approximately 57 percent were white; 34 percent were African-American; 7 percent were Hispanic; and 2 percent were of other races.

GANGS

Law enforcement agencies define a street gang as a "group of people that form an allegiance based on various social needs and engage in acts injurious to public health and safety." Although gangs have been involved with the drug trade for many years, gang-related deadly violence is more likely to come from territorial conflicts.

Gangs are often (but not always) racially or ethnically based. As a rule, ethnic gangs require that all members belong to a particular race or ethnic group. According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, criminal activity by ethnic gangs has been increasing since the 1990s.

The most frightening of gang crimes is murder. More than half of all gang-related homicides between 1976 and 2000 involved whites. Approximately 58.2 percent of the gang-related homicide victims were white, while 56.7 percent of the offenders were also white. African-Americans were the victims of gang-related homicides 38.4 percent of the time, while accounting for 39.1 percent of the offenders. (See Table 8.3.)

In 1996 the National Drug Intelligence Center released a National Street Gang Report based on data from municipal and county law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. Approximately 300 law enforcement agencies participated. The study revealed the level at which nationally recognized street gangs have particularly established themselves in new communities. The Drug Intelligence Center noted the following trends:

• Gang activity was reported in 88 percent of the more than 300 jurisdictions responding to the survey and in 98 percent of the 120 jurisdictions with populations over 100,000.
• Gang activity was not confined to major metropolitan areas and was reported in 68 percent of the fifty-nine responding jurisdictions with populations under 25,000 and in 78 percent of the 120 responding jurisdictions with populations under 50,000.
• Over 7,400 individual gang sets were identified.
• Hispanic gangs were reported in 167 jurisdictions in forty-one states and made up 20 percent of all gangs reported.
• White gangs were reported in 157 jurisdictions in forty-four states.
• Asian-American gangs were reported in 104 jurisdictions in forty-one states.
• African-American gangs claiming affiliation with the Blood and/or Crip sets were reported in 180 responding jurisdictions in forty-two states. Chicago-based African-American gangs, such as the Black Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords, and the Hispanic gang Almighty Latin Kings were reported in 110 of the responding jurisdictions in thirty-five states.

During the 1990s violent street gangs emerged as a problem among Native Americans as well. In Violent Street Gangs in America (Washington, DC, 1997) Steven R. Wiley of the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported to the U.S. Senate that "On the Navajo Reservation in Arizona alone there are approximately fifty-five street gangs, many of which have some affiliation with gangs in California, Phoenix, Albuquerque, and Chicago. These gangs have been responsible for a dramatic increase in violent crimes in the Navajo Nation."

HATE CRIMES

The 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act (PL 101-275) calls for the U.S. attorney general to "acquire data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity [and] publish an annual summary of the data acquired under this section." In 1994 the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act (PL 103-322) amended the Hate Crime Statistics Act to include crimes motivated by discrimination against people with physical and/or mental disabilities.

Of the 7,462 hate-bias incidents reported in 2002, 3,642 were racially motivated and 1,102 were ethnically oriented. Of the racially motivated incidents, 2,486 were committed against African-Americans and 719 were committed against whites. Another 1,426 hate-bias incidents in 2002 were motivated by religion. Sexual orientation and physical and mental disabilities were other reasons cited for hate-based incidents. (See Table 8.9.)

The Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, a private organization that monitors hate groups and paramilitary organizations, reported 751 hate group chapters in 2003, up six percent from the 708 that were active the year before. Hate Web sites, according to the count by the Intelligence Project, increased from 443 in 2002 to 497 in 2003, a 12 percent increase.

In "The Year in Hate," an annual review of organized hate and paramilitary activity around the country, the Intelligence Project reported that among racist organizations active in 2003, the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed a resurgence, and the number of skinhead groups doubled from eleven organizations in 2002 to twenty-two groups in 2003. The neo-Nazi category showed a decrease, but Holocaust denial organizations "seemed to be doing well." Another topic of the report included "Patriot" groups, which the Intelligence Project describes as "antigovernment groups like militias that are animated more by conspiracy theories than racial hatred." The number of these groups grew from 143 organizations in 2002 to 171 in 2003, and from 152 Web sites in 2002 to 162 in 2003. Other groups tracked include the neo-Confederate movement, an alliance of southern heritage organizations that claims allegiance to the antebellum South and shares religious conservatism. "The Year in Hate" also reported that racist black separatist groups increased almost 66 percent in 2003, "largely driven by the addition of more than thirty additional chapters of the New Black Panther Party."