Crime and Punishment in 2011
About this time of year I start doing my review of crime stats to see how the city of Indianapolis is doing. Overall, crime was up in 2011, but less than 4%. According to the preliminary data released by Department of Public Safety, there were 44,693 incidents in 2011 as December 24. That number was 47,564 in 2010, for an increase of 3.72%. Here is the breakdown in individual categories.
- Murder – 94. Up 1% from 93 in 2010.
- Rape – 391, Down 9.7% from 433 in 2010.
- Robbery – 2,527, Up 0.24% from 2,521 in 2010.
- Aggravated Assault – 1,627, Down 2.05% from 1,661 in 2010.
- Residential Burglary – 10,958, Up 5.58% from 10,379 in 2010,
- Non-Residential Burglary – 2,521. Up 25.8% from 2,003 in 2010.
- Larceny – 25,049. Up 0.49% from 24,927 in 2010.
- Vehicle Theft – 5,785. Up 11.7% from 5,180 in 2010.
- Arson – 380. Up 3.54% from 367 in 2010.
A quick reminder about homicides and murder, they are not necessarily the same thing. All murders are homicides, but not all homicides are murders. A murder is the purposeful, unlawful killing of another human being. A homicide is simply killing another person, whether on purpose, accidental or self-defense.
What is really disturbing in all this that while murder is near a record low in he city. The number of blacks tend to make up a disproportionate number of the victims. By my count, blacks made up any where from 55-60% of the deaths, although they are only 25-28% of the population.
Here’s to a better 2012.
