The FBI defines murder and non-negligent manslaughter as "the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another." The figures for murder do not include suicides, accidents, or justifiable homicides either by citizens or law enforcement officers. In 2002 a murder was committed every 32.4 minutes according to the UCR's Crime Clock. The murder rate was 5.6 murders for every 100,000 inhabitants. In 2002 murders were most likely to occur in July and September and least likely to occur in February.

The total of homicides in 2002 was 16,204, compared to 16,037 in 2001. (See Table 2.1.) Murder and non-negligent manslaughter declined by 4.5 percent from 1998 to 2002, and by 33.9 percent from 1993.

FIGURE 2.1
Crime Index offenses, 2002

TABLE 2.1
Index of Crime¹, 1983–2002

The South, the nation's most populous region, had the highest incidence of murder in 2002, accounting for 43.1 percent of all homicides in the United States. Western states were next, at 23.0 percent, followed by the Midwest at 20.4 percent, and the Northeast at 13.6 percent. (See Table 2.2.) These proportions are nearly identical to 1998 figures, when 44 percent of murders in the nation

TABLE 2.2
Index of Crime offense and population distribution, by region, 2002

TABLE 2.3
Murder offenders, by age, sex, and race, 2002

occurred in the South, 22 percent occurred in Western states, 21 percent occurred in Midwestern states and 13 percent were in Northeastern states.

As seen in Table 1.2 in Chapter 1, metropolitan areas reported a murder rate in 2002 of 6.2 victims per 100,000 population, down from 6.7 victims per 100,000 persons in 1998. (As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, a "metropolitan statistical area," or MSA, is an urbanized area including a central city of 50,000 residents or more, or a Census Bureau-defined urbanized area of at least 50,000 inhabitants and a total metropolitan population of 75,000 in New England and at least 100,000 elsewhere.) Rates for murder in 2002 in cities outside metropolitan areas were 3.2 victims per 100,000 population and in rural counties, 3.6 victims per 100,000 population.

In 2002 about two-thirds of the accused murder offenders were reported to be male (65.0 percent), though in 28.0 percent of cases, the sex of the offender was not given. Of 15,813 murder offenders, 3,128 males and 269 females were under the age of 22, while 770 males and 77 females were under the age of 18. Of murder offenders in 2002 for whom race was known, 35.3 percent were black, 33.9 percent were white, and 1.7 percent were of other racial origins. The remainder were persons of unknown races. (See Table 2.3.)

The offender and the victim were usually of the same race. Of 3,582 white murder victims, 3,000 were killed by white offenders in 2002. Similarly, of 3,137 black victims of homicide, almost all (2,852) were killed by black offenders. (See Table 2.4.) Males and females were the victims of male offenders in most cases, though female murder offenders were more likely to kill males than females in 2002.

In 2002 relatives, acquaintances, or others with personal relationships to the victims committed 75.6 percent of all murders in which the relationship of the victim to the offender was known. (Almost 43 percent of the relationships were unknown.) Of 14,054 murders in 2002, 601 wives were the victims of their husbands and 444 girlfriends were the victims of their boyfriends. Sons (239) were more likely to be murdered than were daughters (210). (See Table 2.5.) Arguments resulted in 3,730 murders in 2002, down from 4,356 in 1998. Robbery was the felony offense most likely to result in murder in 2002, as it has been since 1998. Juvenile gang killing accounted for 911 murders in 2002, up from 625 in 1998. (See Table 2.6.)

Nearly sixty-seven percent of all murders were committed with firearms in 2002. (See below for more information on firearms and crime.) Knives were used in 12.6 percent of murders; blunt instruments in 4.7 percent; personal

TABLE 2.4
Relationship between murder victim and offender, by race and sex, 2002
[Single victim/single offender]

weapons (fists, feet, and the like) in 6.6 percent; and other weapons, such as poisons and explosives, in the remaining 9.3 percent. (See Table 2.7.)

Of the 9,369 murder victims killed by firearms in 2002, 661 were under the age of 18 (7 percent) and 2,358 were under 22 years of age (25 percent). Almost 50 percent of murder victims under the age of 18 and over two-thirds of those under age 22 were killed by firearms.

Between 1982 and 2001 there were 327 sniper-attack murder incidents with 379 murder victims, according to the FBI. (See Table 2.8.) In 2001 there were five sniper-attack incidents resulting in five murders, down from eight incidents in 2000 with eight victims, and much lower than the 20-year high of 47 incidents in 1988 with 55 deaths. Of the 224 offenders arrested during this period, 217 were male and seven female. Forty percent of offenders were aged 21 or under. (See Table 2.9.)

Because murder is considered the most serious crime, it receives the most police attention and, therefore, has the highest arrest rate of all felonies. According to the 2002 UCR on murder, about 64.0 percent of murders in 2002 were cleared by arrest. The rate was somewhat lower in cities, with 62 percent of murders and non-negligent manslaughter offenses cleared by arrest in 2002. Because an arrest is made does not mean that the alleged offender is guilty or will be convicted in criminal or juvenile court.