10 Facts About Crime In The US That Will Blow Your Mind

#1) The city of Detroit, Michigan literally looks like a war zone and violent crime is thriving. So far this year in Detroit, car thefts are up 83%, robberies are up 50%, burglaries are up 20% and property destruction is up 42%.

#2) Lawmakers in Illinois say that violence has become so rampant in Chicago that the National Guard needs to be sent in. In just one night last week seven people were killed and 18 were wounded - mostly by gunfire. In fact, there have already been 113 murders in Chicago this year.

#3) The city of Phoenix, Arizona has become the car theft capital of the world as millions of illegal aliens who can't get work have found that stealing cars can be very profitable indeed.

#4) There are approximately 12 million crimes committed in the United States every single year. That is by far the worst in the world. No other nation has more than about 6 million reported crimes per year.

#5) In New York City, the number of homicides in the first quarter of the year had shot up by approximately 22 percent compared with 2009.

#6) U.S. prisons are already bursting at the seams. As you read this, there are over 2.2 million people in prison in the United States. In fact, America leads the world in the number of prisoners and in the percentage of the population in prison. The United States has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's incarcerated population.

#7) U.S. law enforcement authorities claim that there are now over 1 million members of criminal gangs inside the country. These 1 million gang members are responsible for up to 80% of the crimes committed in the United States each year.

#8) There are over 100,000 rapes in the United States every single year. That is the highest number for any of the countries in the United Nations.

#9) According to USA Today, 58% of state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States reported that violent criminal gangs were active in their areas in 2008. That was up from 45% in 2004.

#10) Every year, one out of every five people is a victim of a crime in the United States. No other nation on earth has a rate that is higher.

______beforeitsnews/story/36800/10_Facts_About_Crime_In_The_United_States_That_Will_Blow_Your_Mind.html

wow... i think i know where this is heading.. you know what this says to me... our economy isnt getting better at all... times are not good and in fact, times are getting worse... im so glad i live in a small town with virtually no crime period.

[edit on 27-4-2010 by TheCoffinman]

They say it is way more than the rest of the world for rapes an crime. Which is true because you have over 300,000,000 people living in the U.S. If you compare U.S.A to Somalia, even though the U.S.A has more crimes you would say Somalia is way worse than the U.S.A crime wise, wouldn’t you? Great Article Though!

reply to post by TheCoffinman


No link or other back up for you quotes? Not that I'm questioning them but it is normal to substantiate numbers like that.

Doesn't surprise me in the least...
I'm an old dude and for years I've watched things steadily get worse and worse... For a while I did wonder if better media coverage was to blame, I mean we always knew crimes happened but not until we got "Breaking News on demand" was it so prevalent... but that's not it...

There's a general lack of respect and by that I mean to have a new mentally out there, predator and pray... Of course even the predators are victims...

We have entered an entirely new phase here...
I never would have dreamed that a young girl fearing street gangs would willingly offer herself up to be beaten and raped by said gang just to earn their protection!
I Would have called you a liar if just ten years ago you would have told me you get less jail time if you just kill rather then beat your victims.
Hell drive-by shootings are so common now the news doesn't report em unless it happens to someone famous...

Naw this new future scares the hell out of me...

Just last week, here in Indy, I was driving along on a peaceful, two-lane, winding road midmorning. A minivan from out of no where comes screaming around me almost taking off my door! I thought, 'I'm calling the police on this lunatic' look in my rearview mirror to see the Popo approaching that's when I realized I was in the middle of a car chase! Before I could even pull over, saw the minivan pass a car ahead of me and violently collide head on into another car. Quite traumatic I must say.

This hardly ever happens in Indy. All over some stolen TVs. Ugh The driver of the minivan was killed. The victim he hit was driving a Mercedes which I am convinced saved her life. Seriously, you are going to out run the cops in a *minivan*?! I don't' even think the cops should have been in pursuit on such a dangerous road but that's off topic...

I saw a report just last week on CNN about the increase in crime across the US and it's relation to the economy. It occurs to me when gas prices soared so did the price of almost all goods and services. Notably food prices. When the gas prices dropped back down, the price of goods remained at their increased rate. I recently returned some grapes as they were trying to charge me $7 bucks. For. Grapes.

All I hear is 'the economy is getting better.' For who? Not Joe and Jane average, that's for sure.

Could it be possible that our overall advanced democratic society is causing us to be able to report more, while some other third world countries and countries like China underreport their stats?

I would think that we may be leading in several categories based on our size combined with the infrastructure in place for reporting such stats.

I would agree that crime in the inner city or urban areas is out of control in the US. I lived in Detroit (in the city, not a suburb) from 1988-1995 and it was pretty bad. My vehicle was broken into many times, a few pretty scary street brawls, etc. A funeral home by my old house hired security guards to police their parking lot because the hubcaps and rims would get stolen from people's vehicles while they attended a viewing or funeral.


On the other side of the spectrum I have also lived in rural Virginia and Indiana and people don't even lock their houses or cars because there is no crime risk.

Having experienced both I will never live in or near a major city again.

Does anyone have stats that go by year, and see what america was like years ago?

Could it be possible that our overall advanced democratic society is causing us to be able to report more, while some other third world countries and countries like China underreport their stats?

Could it be that your advanced democratic society has criminalized too many activities in order to allow corporations to continue their stranglehold over your utopia?

Ask yourself in whose interest is your high population of incarcerated?

Follow the money

Here's what I was told concerning one criminal thru a friend of mine:

4 felonies, 4 misdemeanors, a bunch of what she called 'trafficy' offenses- the major stuff is drugs, selling, using, holding a residence to do both, ect.

Copped a plea, and got- ready? PROBATION. Why? his family has money and prestige. No other reason.

People who do a laundry list like that just need to be shot. Forget prison. Just shoot them.

Can we see these numbers in the form of percentages compared to the whole population? The US is the most populated nation in the UN. Or would you compare the numbers to a country that is larger than the US in population (such as China)? Does anyone even keep crime stats for China?

I would say, just by observation, that the US is safer than Mexico or Liberia or the Congo even though the crimes committed are higher. I think a per capita figure is more accurate.

That article is like saying my family of five "eats a lot of food" because we eat more than a single person living on his/her own.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Not to mention this article states that violent crime is experiencing an "upsurge" in the US yet cites no sources to validate their claim.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by Scopeless
Could it be possible that our overall advanced democratic society is causing us to be able to report more, while some other third world countries and countries like China underreport their stats?

I would think that we may be leading in several categories based on our size combined with the infrastructure in place for reporting such stats.

I agree with you, Scopeless.
What countries have a larger population than the USA ? Only China and India, which I would imagine ( especially in rural areas ) don't have a comparable system of reporting of these crimes.

If there are 100,00 rapes per year in the US, well you can't tell me that there aren't more than that in countries of 1.3bn and 1.bn people.

The US has a high crime rate, but it should only be compared with other first world/Western countries on a per capita basis.

I'm not American, btw, but I dislike seeing figures and facts being manipulated to provide 'evidence' to support someone's point of view, as appears to be the case in the original linked article.

Originally posted by TheCoffinman
The United States has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's incarcerated population.

A savvy politician wanting to lower that number might just put a bullet in the heads of people instead of incarcerating them. In fact I think that is precisely what is happening in the rest of the world. See that silver lining?

#8) There are over 100,000 rapes in the United States every single year. That is the highest number for any of the countries in the United Nations.

I have a hard time believing that given what happens in some of the countries in Africa. I think reported crimes and crimes are maybe different statistics?

I agree with the overall sentiment - things are getting worse but remember that 80% of statistics are made up and the other 20% are lies.

I believe that crime is on the rise in the US. I also blame the media and our dysfunctional educational system for much of it. TV passes on the mentality of ownership=prestige, gotta have that hot car, newest gadget, whatever. They have placed too much value on things on not enough on morals or ethics.
Schools no longer teach values as they are afraid of offending someone. The "education" they provide isn't even enough to get a job delivering pizza.
Our whole society has bought into this mentality and now we see the sad effects it has brought. Let's face it, most crimes are committed for what? - money. Worthless pieces of paper that only have value because we collectively give it value. It's high time we rethink that position. Oh nevermind, the greenback will be worthless soon anyway. Then we'll have crime for essential needs like food instead. Now that's progress!

[edit on 27-4-2010 by Asktheanimals]

I'm live on the border of Detroit and no s#$% it's a warzone. I smoke out side. I hear gun shots every night and not just pistols. I hear automatic assult riffles.

Two of my neighbors had they're cars stolen in the past month. I went to the gas station late at night a while back. I was walking up to the door and there were 3 guys with shot guns inside. I got the hell out of there. I drove by a while later and the cops busted them. At the same gas station a high school girl was stabbed in the throat on prom night. She was in her prom dress and some jerk was hitting on her. She told him off and he stabbed her.

I'm sick of it. If I ever catch another robbery in progress I'm gonna wait in the car for them to come out and run them over.

I'm getting a hand gun to keep in the house soon.

Two goons broke into my cousins house a while back while he was sleeping. He had a 357 on the night stand. When one of them came into his bedroom he was shot in the chest. The other guy got away. His buddies had the nerve to come back and kill his dog. They also broke windows out of his car. He ended up moving.

Most of these statistics are BS.

Here is an example:

Originally posted by TheCoffinman
#4) There are approximately 12 million crimes committed in the United States every single year. world's incarcerated population.

#10) Every year, one out of every five people is a victim of a crime in the United States. No other nation on earth has a rate that is higher.

If 1 out of 5 people are a victem of crime each year, that means 60 million people were crime victems. The above statistice contradict each other.

Sounds scary. But this is what the people of the country want. We're giving people so many years in prison that were simply just throwing money down the drain for these people who get so much out of the prison system. A lot of people will look down on me for supporting the death penalty. But when you see someone that has a many years on their term or even life. It just seems like all we'll do is just take care of them. What could we do to improve people not committing crimes? The old ways seem to be not working.

Hmmmm...where you been?

Nothing in your post to indicate an increase in crime historically...I believe homicides in particular dropped to record lows after 911...

80% of the US prison system is non-violent drug offenders. THIS IS A CRIME. The politicians and people involved in the imprisonment of these citizens should be put in jail.

These revelations are a surprise to anyone? Well, I find that odd, given the fact that wages have remained stagnant for 30 years or so for the very demographic committing these crimes in the inner-city and elsewhere, globalism moving manufacturing jobs to China and third world, public education is failing, and a weening of the underclass by entitlement programs. Those are just some debilitating characteristics of a society in decline, but there are others. Moreover, we are experiencing the blow-back of this miserable recession. Mass expanses of people around the country are out of work and decent jobs are fleeting. Some of these people are the stereotypical sociopath career criminals, but I bet many are everyday people who were once law abiding and tax paying citizens.

When one has no prospects, and facing hopelessness in the system that says it is fair and has their interests in mind after seeing plastered over the news, bankers and masters of industry are shown reaping rewards from this catastrophic downturn. It leads to knee-jerk reactions like robberies, home invasions, and other nefarious crimes. Many of these acts are from people reacting out of frustration at self-conceived notions of impropriety by their leaders, society, and the American dream as a whole. Poverty is creeping its ugly head into the ranks of the middle class, and as this continues, crime is likely to grow and get worse.

Detroit is a fine example of a city capitalism has forgotten. In its hey day, it was one of the finest places in the country to live, where jobs were plentiful, and had an outstanding quality of life. Now, there is a city that has become a decrepit cesspool of abandoned neighborhoods, factories, and widespread blight. There are numerous factors that led to the downfall of Detroit and rampant crime, but when there are people with their backs against the wall, broke, and seemingly no prospects or opportunities in the future; they will resort to extreme measures to survive.

Detroit is not the only city facing this, but others as well, like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and practically every major city around the country. Some would taut living in rural areas, but most of those areas are held up by one factory or major employment center as was the case with Detroit. If that major employment center closes, one would expect crime to increase as well.

The issue of crime is a national problem, and Detroit ought to be a wake-up call to those who think it is an isolated problem. Detroit can happen to any city or locale in this country, and as this Depression deepens which by all wisdom it seems it will; crime is only going to escalate. Crime is practically the after affect of people with seemingly too much time on their hands, lack of adequate employment, homelessness, hunger, or a poor education. Are we witnessing the collapse of Rome part two? Sarcastically speaking, "Hail Caesar and call in the National Guard!"



[edit on 27-4-2010 by Jakes51]