Federal Study Finds Violent Crime Hits Hardest at Nation’s Latino Population : Law enforcement: A survey indicates members of that ethnic group are more likely than others to be victims. But, the numbers are declining.

Although the rate of crimes committed against them is declining, the nation’s 18 million Latinos are more likely to suffer a violent crime than other Americans, according to a Justice Department study released Sunday.

Violent crimes committed against Latinos dropped from about 44 per 1,000 in 1983 to about 31 per 1,000 in 1985. But between 1979 and 1986, the period surveyed, 11 robberies and 12 aggravated assaults were committed for every 1,000 Latinos 12 and older, compared to 6 robberies and 10 aggravated assaults for every 1,000 non-Latinos, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report.

The study indicated that Latinos tended to be younger, less likely to be married, less well educated, poorer, more likely to be urban residents, less likely to be employed and more likely to be renters than the average for all other Americans.

Joseph M. Bessette, acting bureau director, said those characteristics correspond to higher rates of criminal victimization regardless of race or national origin.

“Hispanic and non-Hispanic people who share the same demographic traits had generally comparable crime-victim rates,” Bessette said. “Perhaps the major finding of this analysis . . . is that compared to other groups, Hispanics are particularly victimized by robbery.”

The bureau, an arm of the Justice Department, said the statistics were gathered from a continuing National Crime Survey of about 100,000 persons 12 and older who are interviewed twice a year in about 50,000 households.

About 8% of the nation’s population is Latino, an ethnic term that refers to people who identify themselves as having a Latino heritage and can include people of any race.

In other findings, the bureau found that:

--Latinos suffered a higher rate of household crimes--burglary, larceny and auto theft--than did non-Latinos. For the seven-year period, there was an average of 266 household crimes per 1,000 households headed by a Latino, compared with 205 crimes per 1,000 other households.

--The street was the most common place for violent crimes to occur; 45% of the robberies of Latinos took place on the street, while 51% of the robberies of black victims and 34% of the robberies of whites took place there.

--Latino victims of violent crime were more likely to be accosted by a stranger than were white or black victims: 65% of the Latinos were attacked by strangers, while 58% of white victims and 54% of black victims were attacked by people they didn’t know. However, Latino victims were the least likely (12%) and black victims were most likely (22%) to be attacked by someone well known to them.

--Latino victims of violent crime were as likely as white and black victims to report a crime to police.

--Latino and black robbery victims were equally more likely to face an attacker with a weapon (58% for each group) than whites (43%). Black robbery victims were the most likely to be confronted with an attacker holding a gun (29%), and Latino victims were most likely to face a robber with a knife (25%).

Harry Pachon, executive director of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials in Washington, hailed the report’s findings.

“What this shows is the opposite of the stereotype of Latinos as criminals,” Pachon said. “The reality is that Hispanics are the victimized.”

CRIME AGAINST LATINOS

Victims per 1,000 persons 12 or older or per 1,000 households.

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Violent crime Non-Latinos 38 36 39 38 34 34 32 31 Theft Latinos 84 78 88 88 74 66 61 66 Non-Latinos 95 85 87 84 79 74 71 69 Household crimes Latinos 299 278 291 279 253 262 240 237 Non-Latinos 242 233 231 213 194 181 177 172

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics