TEXAS CRIME ANALYSIS

Chapter2T EXAS C RIMEA NALYSIS

2015 CRIME IN TEXASTEXAS CRIME ANALYSISCRIME MEASUREMENTSrobbery and aggravated assault, or as propertycrimes, which consist of burglary, larceny-theft, andmotor vehicle theft. By reducing the overall occurrence of crime to this Crime Index, the annualcomparison of crime trends is simplified. Althougharson and human trafficking are index crimes inthat the number of reported offenses is collected,neither is a part of the Crime Index.Crime affects every Texan in some fashion. To gaina measurement of crime trends, Texas participatesin the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.UCR makes possible the analysis of crime trendsprimarily through the Crime Index.The Crime IndexRape DefinitionTo track the variations in crime, the UCR data collection program uses a statistical summary toolreferred to as the Crime Index. Rather than collecting reports of all crimes that were committed in aparticular year, UCR collects the reports of sevenindex crimes. The crimes in this group are all serious, either by their very nature or because of thefrequency with which they occur, and present acommon enforcement problem to police agencies.In 2014, the Rape definition was redefined by theFBI in the Uniform Crime Reporting program as:“Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vaginaor anus with any body part or object, or oralpenetration by a sex organ of another person,without the consent of the victim.”Statistics reported in this crime category includeassaults to commit rape; however, statutory rape(rape against a female under the age of consent)is excluded.Crimes within this index can be further categorizedas violent crimes, which include murder, rape,Index Crimes in Texas 2000-2015 Violent 2Property5 Total

2015 CRIME IN TEXASTEXAS CRIME ANALYSISCRIME TRENDS2015 Texas Crime Rate by OffenseTexas crime trends are analyzed using two separate methods: crime volume and crime rates. Crimevolume is merely the aggregate sum of the CrimeIndex. By comparing the crime volume from year toyear, trends in the number of crimes committed canbe studied. Crime rates, however, are compiled tocompensate for changes in the size of Texas’ population and to show the number of people affectedby crime in a given population. Texas crime ratesare generally expressed as the number of crimesper 100,000 ated Assault67,358RobberyViolent Crime Total112,763108,848555,867570,385Motor Vehicle Theft67,081GRAND TOTALCrime Rates6.530,857152,444Property Crime Total11,4661,18731,883BurglaryLarceny-Theft% 62,118.3Property Crime .5-4.7Annual Crime TrendsMonthly crime variations show that, in general,crime occurrences peaked in the month of July.Individual index crime trend graphs are located inChapter 3.Index Crimes by Month - 4,55542.69.1245.2GRAND TOTAL2015 Texas Index Crime by Volume201444.44.4Aggravated AssaultMotor Vehicle TheftIn addition to the above offenses, there were3,536 cases of arson reported which representa decrease of 7.2 percent from 2014. There werealso 285 human trafficking offenses committed in2015.2015% Change116.1Violent Crime TotalDuring calendar year 2015, there was a reportedtotal of 888,155 index offenses in Texas. The crimevolume decreased 2.8 percent when compared to2014.20144.8RapeCrime Volume2015-2.5-3.6-2.8TYPE OF CRIMECrime analysis generally looks at the twocategories of crime discussed above: violentcrimes (or crimes against persons) and propertycrimes. In 2015, 12.7 percent of the Crime Indexwere violent crimes and 87.3 percent were propertycrimes.During calendar year 2015, Texas’ crime rate was3,233.3 crimes per 100,000 persons. This is adecrease of 4.7 percent from the previous year.The crime rate is based on the 2015 Texas population of 27,469,114.6

2015 CRIME IN TEXASProperty CrimesViolent Crime Offenses 2005-2015TEXAS CRIME ANALYSISThe number of property crimes reported in 2015was 775,392. Property crimes decreased 3.6percent from 2014. Burglary accounted for 19.7percent of all property offenses, larceny-theftaccounted for 71.7 percent, and motor vehicletheft accounted for 8.6 percent. The 2015 property crime rate was 2,822.8 crimes per 100,000Texans, a decrease of 5.5 percent whencompared to the rate for 2014.Property Crime Offenses 2005-2015Violent CrimesViolent crimes involve the element of personalconfrontation between the perpetrator and the victim. Because of their nature, violent crimes areconsidered to be more serious than propertycrimes. A reported 112,763 violent crimes occurredduring 2015, a 3.6 percent increase from 2014.The violent crime rate was 410.5 crimes per100,000 Texans, a 1.6 percent increase from therate posted in 2014.Type of Crime in TexasProperty Crime by OffenseViolent Crime by Offense7

2015 CRIME IN TEXASTEXAS CRIME ANALYSISCLEARANCESSTOLEN PROPERTY VALUEFor Uniform Crime Reporting purposes, an offenseis cleared only when a law enforcement agencyhas identified the offender, enough evidence existsto press charges, and the subject is actually takeninto custody. The arrest of one person can clearseveral crimes or several persons may be arrestedin the process of clearing one offense. Lawenforcement agencies may also clear a crime byexceptional means when some element beyondlaw enforcement control precludes the placing offormal charges against the offender.The total value of reported property stolen during2015 in Texas was 1,901,940,482.Property by Type and ValueType of PropertyCurrency, Notes, Etc.Jewelry & Precious MetalsClothing & FursLocally StolenMotor VehiclesOffice EquipmentLaw enforcement officers cleared 20.1 percent ofall index offenses reported to them in 2015, byarrest or exceptional means. Of the violent crimesreported, 41.9 percent were cleared, while 17.0percent of all property crimes were cleared.Televisions, Radios,Stereos, Etc.FirearmsHousehold GoodsConsumable GoodsThe relatively high clearance rate for violent crimescompared to the non-violent property crimes is, inpart, attributable to the element of confrontationbetween the victim and the perpetrator, which contributes to identification of the offender.LivestockMiscellaneousTOTALStolen 157,003,770Recovered 2,825,515 151,624,616 13,011,635 760,807,891 413,428,753 73,341,127 3,793,962 44,146,693 75,724,184 25,618,416 34,776,613 3,695,756 3,397,995 1,972,055 993,288 13,228,363 2,001,010 562,669,768 53,672,730 2,999,041 1,901,940,482 380,363 499,173,062Property Value Lost to Crime 2005-2015BillionsIn 2015, arrests of persons under the age of 18represented 9.9 percent of all index crimes solved,accounting for 7.9 percent of violent crimes clearedand 10.5 percent of property crimes cleared. Of theviolent crimes solved, persons under the age of 18were responsible for 3.6 percent of murder clearances, 14.4 percent of rape clearances, 11.7percent of robbery clearances, and 6.4 percent ofaggravated assault clearances. For non-violentcrimes solved, this age group accounted for 10.5percent of burglaries cleared, 10.4 percent of larceny-thefts cleared, and 12.2 percent of the motorvehicle thefts cleared.Property Value Lost to Crime 2014 - 2015Index Crime Clearance Rates(Percentage)8

2015 CRIME IN TEXASTEXAS CRIME ANALYSISTEXAS CRIME CLOCK, 2015ONEMURDEREVERY 7 HOURSONEROBBERYEVERY 16 MINUTESONERAPEONEBURGLARYEVERY 43 MINUTESEVERY 3 MINUTESONEONELARCENYTHEFTEVERY 57 SECONDSONEMOTOR VEHICLETHEFTAGGRAVATEDASSAULTEVERY 8 MINUTESEVERY 8 MINUTESONEVIOLENTCRIMEONEPROPERTYCRIMEEVERY 5 MINUTESEVERY 41 SECONDSONEINDEX CRIMEEVERY 36 SECONDS9Note: As the most aggregaterepresentation of UCR data, theCrime Clock should be viewedwith care. The Crime Clockconveys the relative frequencyof Index Crimes. This displaydoes not imply any regularity inthe commission of crimes, butrather, the clock represents theannual ratio of crimes to fixedtime intervals.

CRIME FACTS AT A GLANCE20152015 CRIME IN TEXAS TEXAS CRIME ANALYSISThere were 888,155 index crime offensesreported with a 20.1 percent clearance rate forTexas in 2015. The crime rate for the State of Texas was3,233.3 index offenses for every 100,000inhabitants. During 2015, Texas law enforcement officersmade 829,051 arrests. Of those arrested, 6.3percent were 16 years of age and under. The value of stolen property totaled 1,901,940,482.The offense of larceny-theft accounted for 62.6percent of all index crimes and had a clearancerate of 19.3 percent. There were 67,358 aggravated assaultsreported. Of these, 19.9 percent were committed by the use of hands, fists, and feet; 20.5percent involved a knife or cutting instrument;and 26.9 percent involved a firearm. Firearms were used in 72.9 percent of all murders reported. 10Residential burglaries accounted for 69 percentof all burglaries reported.The number of motor vehicle thefts reportedwas 67,081, for a total dollar loss of 740,819,760.There were 194,872 family violence incidentsduring 2015. There were 211,301 victims and205,154 offenders.In 2015, there were 193 hate crime incidentsreported with 205 victims, 213 offenders and206 offenses.There were 18,636 sexual assault incidentsreported with 19,537 victims and 19,648offenders.There were 4,310 assaults on officers reportedwith 95.4 percent cleared.A total of four law enforcement officers werekilled, all of whom were feloniously killed in theline of duty.

as violent crimes, which include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, or as property crimes, which consist of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. By reducing the overall occur-rence of crime to this Crime Index, the annual comparison of crime trends is simplified.