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State's Black Homicide Victimization Rate of 34.72 Per 100,000
is Seven Times National Overall Homicide Rate of 4.76 per 100,000 Washington,
DC--Missouri leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victimization for
the second year in a row according to a new analysis of unpublished Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data released today
by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The annual study, “Black
Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data,”
(http://www.vpc.org/studies/blackhomicide12.pdf)
uses 2009 data--the most recent data available from the FBI--and ranks the 50
states according to their black homicide victimization rates. The study found
overwhelmingly that firearms, usually handguns, were the weapon of choice in the
homicides. The top 10 states with each state's corresponding
black homicide victimization rate are: 1) Missouri,
34.72 per 100,000 2) Michigan, 30.21 per 100,000 3)
Pennsylvania, 28.30 per 100,000 4) Oklahoma, 27.96 per 100,000
5) Louisiana, 26.33 per 100,000 6) Indiana,
25.84 per 100,000 7) Tennessee, 23.01 per 100,000 8)
Wisconsin, 22.71 per 100,000 9) California, 22.33 per 100,000
10) Nevada, 21.06 per 100,000
Josh
Sugarmann, VPC executive director and study co-author states, "While Missouri
has the highest state rate of black homicide victimization, homicides are devastating
black teens and adults across the nation." For MISSOURI,
the study found that in 2009: - There were 239 black
homicide victims, resulting in a homicide rate of 34.72 per 100,000. Of these,
206 were male and 33 were female.
- For homicides in which the
weapon used could be identified, 87 percent of black victims (200 out of 229)
were killed with guns. Of these, 65 percent (129 victims) were known to be killed
with handguns. There were 63 victims killed with firearms where the type of gun
was not stated. There were 12 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments,
five victims killed by bodily force, and eight victims killed by a blunt object.
- For homicides involving black victims for which the victim to
offender relationship could be identified, 76 percent of black victims (63 out
of 83) were murdered by someone they knew. Twenty victims were killed by strangers.
- For homicides involving black victims for which the circumstances
could be identified, 64 percent (59 out of 92) were not related to the commission
of any other felony. Of these, 80 percent (47 homicides) involved arguments between
the victim and the offender.
For the entire
UNITED STATES, the study found that in 2009:
- There
were 6,505 black homicide victims in the United States. Of these, 5,576 were male,
and 928 were female. In one case the gender of the victim was unknown.
- The
homicide rate for black victims in the United States was 17.90 per 100,000. In
comparison, the overall national homicide rate was 4.76 per 100,000 and the national
homicide rate for whites was 2.92 per 100,000.
- For homicides
in which the weapon used could be identified, 82 percent of black victims (5,065
out of 6,156) were killed with guns. Of these, 74 percent (3,723 victims) were
killed with handguns. There were 587 victims killed with knives or other cutting
instruments, 238 victims killed by bodily force, and 170 victims killed by a blunt
object.
- For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship
could be identified, 72 percent of black victims (2,271 out of 3,134) were murdered
by someone they knew. Eight hundred sixty-three victims were killed by strangers.
- For homicides involving black victims for which the circumstances
could be identified, 71 percent (2,812 out of 3,937) were not related to the commission
of any other felony. Of these, 54 percent (1,524 homicides) involved arguments
between the victim and the offender. Thirteen percent (355 homicides) were reported
to be gang-related. Forty-nine percent of gang-related homicides (175 homicides)
were in California, which may be in part due to more comprehensive reporting.
In California, 60 percent of non-felony related homicides were reported to be
gang-related.
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For Release:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Contact:
Sari Wisch
Violence Policy Center
(202) 822-8200 x110 |
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