Blacks Found More Likely to be Major Crime Victims

Black Americans were more likely than whites to be victims of major violent crimes and burglaries in recent years, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

In a separate extrapolation of homicide statistics, the agency said that blacks were nearly six times as likely as whites to be murdered in 1986.

Data from the department’s National Crime Survey showed that the rate of violent crime against blacks--excluding homicides--was 44 per 1,000 persons over the age of 12, compared to 34 per 1,000 for whites, in the years 1979 through 1986.

“Blacks experienced higher rates of rape, robbery and aggravated assault, but whites had higher rates of simple assault and personal theft,” the Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded in a special report.

For every 1,000 blacks aged 12 or older, there were 13 robberies, 14 aggravated assaults and 16 simple assaults, the study found. For every 1,000 whites in the same age group, there were five robberies, nine aggravated assaults and 19 simple assaults.

The report also found that of all violent crimes committed by a single offender, both the offender and victim were white in 69% of the cases. In 15% of such crimes, the offender was black and the victim white. Black-against-black crimes accounted for 11% of the cases, while white offenders victimized blacks in 2%.

On a brighter note, the report said that the rate of violent crime declined by about 20% for whites and 17% for blacks during the eight-year period. From 1983 through 1986, the rate for crimes of theft dipped 21% for blacks and 12% for whites after leveling off earlier in the decade.

The report also showed that:

--Black households had higher rates of burglary than white homes for every income level and in cities as well as rural areas. Overall, there were 108 burglaries for every 1,000 black households, compared to a rate of 72 per 1,000 for white households.

--Black victims of violent crime were almost twice as likely as whites to be confronted by an offender carrying a gun, knife or other weapon.

--When injured during a violent crime, black victims were more likely to sustain serious injuries than whites (24% versus 16%) and were twice as likely to be hospitalized overnight.

--An estimate based on FBI-collected crime figures indicated that the murder rate for blacks was 31.2 per 100,000 compared to 5.4 per 100,000 for whites. The rate for black males--the highest of any subgroup--was 52.3 per 100,000.

The figures on violent crime were based on data collected over eight years by the National Crime Survey based on interviews in 50,000 households. The surveys have consistently shown that certain population groups--especially males, the poor, younger people and central-city residents--are more likely to be crime victims than others.