Crime - Minorities As Offenders

African-Americans—particularly males—commit a higher number of offenses as a proportion of the population than other groups. Throughout the 1990s African-American males between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four made up a growing proportion of homicide offenders. In 1994 African-American males between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four made up more than 30 percent of homicide offenders, but that number has since decreased somewhat. (See Figure 8.1.)

African-American offenders are most likely to commit homicides over drug-related activity. Between 1976 and 2000, 66.3 percent of homicide offenders who had committed their crimes under drug-related circumstances were African-American. A high proportion of felony murders (deaths that occur during such violent crimes as burglary, sexual assault, or robbery) between those years were committed by African-Americans (59.2 percent). Of homicides in the years spanning 1976 and 2000 that involved an intimate victim/offender relationship, 44.4 percent of the offenders were African-American. During those same years, in homicides where a gun was the weapon of choice, 54.6 percent of the offenders were African-American. (See Table 8.3.)

In workplace-related murders between 1976 and 2000, a high proportion of the offenders were white (70.2 percent), while 26.9 percent were African-American. Of gang-related homicides committed between 1976 and 2000, 56.7 percent of the offenders were white. Murders of family members were committed most often by whites (58.3 percent). White offenders accounted for 54.5 percent FIGURE 8.2
Homicides by race of offender and victim, 1976–2000 of arson deaths and 74.3 percent of deaths by poisoning between 1976 and 2000. (See Table 8.3.)

Between 1976 and 2000, when a white homicide offender killed a stranger, the victim was also white between 40 to 50 percent of the time. When an African-American offender killed a stranger, the victim was also African-American at roughly the same percentage. When homicide offenders kill friends or acquaintances, the victim is even more likely to be of the same race. Figure 8.2

TABLE 8.5
Number of inmates in state or federal prisons and local jails, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, June 30, 2002

	Number of inmates in state or federal prisons or local jails
	Male				Female
Age	Total1	White2	Black2	Hispanic	Total1	White2	Black2	Hispanic
Total	1,848,700	630,700	818,900	342,500	165,800	68,800	65,600	25,400
18–19	78,800	23,100	35,800	16,100	4,200	1,800	1,500	900
20–24	340,900	97,000	159,700	73,200	22,100	9,600	7,500	4,500
25–29	340,800	97,800	161,600	72,000	26,800	10,200	10,500	4,700
30–34	329,200	112,800	142,300	65,600	35,700	14,300	14,500	5,500
35–39	294,200	107,900	132,800	45,900	34,400	14,500	14,200	4,500
40–44	213,800	84,200	90,200	33,100	22,000	8,900	9,700	2,500
45–54	183,100	76,500	72,800	27,300	16,200	7,200	6,300	2,200
55 or older	51,400	27,600	14,400	7,000	3,000	1,900	800	400
Note: Based on custody counts from National Prisoners Statistics (NPS-1A), 2002, and Annual Survey of Jails, 2002. Estimates by age were obtained from Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 2002, Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 1997, and Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) for inmates on September 30, 2001. Estimates were rounded to the nearest 100.
1Includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.
2Excludes Hispanics.
SOURCE: Paige M. Harrison and Jennifer C. Karberg, "Table 13. Number of Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails, by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, June 30, 2002," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003 [Online] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim02.pdf [accessed March 11, 2004]

TABLE 8.6
Number of inmates in state or federal prisons and local jails per 100,000 residents, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, June 30, 2002

	Number of inmates in state or federal prisons or local jails
	Male				Female
Age	Total1	White2	Black2	Hispanic	Total1	White2	Black2	Hispanic
Total	1,309	649	4,810	1,740	113	68	349	137
18–19	1,800	831	5,715	2,146	100	67	233	133
20–24	3,387	1,521	11,529	4,081	230	158	520	287
25–29	3,586	1,615	12,877	4,339	282	170	752	314
30–34	3,213	1,680	11,001	3,878	348	213	1,024	366
35–39	2,534	1,356	9,545	2,776	297	183	924	302
40–44	1,827	1,006	6,738	2,402	187	107	650	193
45–54	974	543	3,885	1,512	83	50	281	120
55 or older	194	130	665	362	9	7	25	17
Note: Based on the latest available estimates of the U.S. resident population for July 1, 2002, from the 2002 census (by gender, race and Hispanic origin) and 1990 census, adjusted for undercount (by age).
1Includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.
2Excludes Hispanics.
SOURCE: Paige M. Harrison and Jennifer C. Karberg, "Table 14. Number of Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails per 100,000 Residents, by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, June 30, 2002," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003

shows the racial breakdown of murders between 1976 and 2000.