Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

Section I: Crime & Punishment in the U.S.

Police

  • Cases of "justifiable homicide" by police in 199835: 367
  • Number of police killed in the line of duty, 199836: 61
  • Percent change in rate of "justifiable homicides", 1980-199837: -33%
  • Percent change in rate of murder of police officers in the line of duty, 1980-199838: -64%
  • Percent of index crimes (serious crimes tracked by the FBI) where the police are able to solve the crime by arrest, 199939: 21%
  • Number of motor vehicle thefts known to the police, 199940: 956,903
  • Percent of motor vehicle thefts cleared by arrest, 199941: 14.9%
  • Number of burglaries known to the police, 199942: 1,751,332
  • Percent of burglaries cleared by arrest, 199943: 13.7%
  • Number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters known to the police, 199944: 12,266
  • Percent of murders and non-negligent manslaughters cleared by arrest, 199945: 69.1%
  • Percent violent crime cleared by police, 197146: 46.5%
  • Percent violent crime cleared by police, 199947: 50.0%
  • Percent property crime cleared by police, 197148: 15.7%
  • Percent property crime cleared by police, 199949: 17.5%

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..