What’s measured This measure is an index of crimes per 10,000 persons. It is the sum of the crime rates per 10,000 persons for seven categories of crimes: murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies and motor-vehicle thefts. Larcenies typically make up the largest share of the crime index, followed by burglaries; murders and rapes account for the smallest shares of the crime index. Data for each county in the region were obtained from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) programs of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the North Carolina Department of Justice, State Bureau of Investigation, for 2000 and for 2002 through 2005. (Data were not available for 2001.) UCR is a nationwide effort administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to collect a reliable set of criminal statistics. To align North Carolina’s crime rates published as “per 100,000 persons” with South Carolina’s “per 10,000 persons” rates, the North Carolina figures were restated as “per 10,000 persons” for this report. The regional indicator is calculated as an un-weighted average of the county crime indices. Why it’s measured An important component of public safety is crime – vulnerability to it and protection from it. When crime rates are perceived to be high, quality of life is adversely affected. Researchers, planners, criminal-justice professionals and legislators study the UCR numbers to allocate resources and to chart the movement of crime over time. News media use UCR crime statistics to let the public know about crime in their area. However, the FBI cautions against ranking the crime-index statistics to show which places are the safest (in other words, have the lowest crime). According to the FBI’s UCR information, each area is unique based on many factors, such as ‘population density and degree of urbanization of the locality and its surrounding area; variations in composition of the population; the number of residents versus the “policing population,” in other words, residents plus daily commuters, transients, tourists, shoppers, etc.; economic conditions; modes of transportation and highway systems; cultural conditions; family conditions with respect to divorce and family cohesiveness; climate; effective strength of law-enforcement agencies; administrative and investigative emphases of law enforcement; and policies of other components of the criminal justice system, such as the district attorney’s office, the court system and the correctional and probation systems.’ Indicator results The 2005 average county crime index for the region was 433.5 crimes per 10,000 persons. This is a drop of 3.3 percent over the prior year and a drop of 7.9 percent since 2000. The region’s average county crime index is below those of both North and South Carolina (461.8 and 501.5, respectively), and has been so consistently over the time period studied. Six counties saw a decline in crime index between 2000 and 2005. The remaining eight reported increases for the six-year period ranging from 1.6 percent (Gaston) to 12.9% (Cabarrus). The year-to-year variation in the crime index for each county is generally smaller than the variation among counties. The exceptions are Lincoln and Stanly counties. Lincoln County saw a 67 percent drop from 2000 to 2005 (from 338.7 to 110.3), with most of the decrease occurring in 2004. Stanly County experienced a 35 percent drop from 2000 to 2005 (from 427.4 to 275.9). Running counter to the regional trend of declining crime index rates from 2000 to 2005, Cabarrus, Catawba and Rowan counties showed increases in the range of 8 to 13 percent. It should be noted, however, that Cabarrus and Rowan’s indices were below the average county index in 2000 and remained below it in 2005. Evaluation As the populations of the counties and of the region have grown, the number of crimes has increased, but the crime rate has declined for the region and for many of the counties. The dramatic drop in Lincoln County’s crime index in 2004 is not readily explainable and warrants further investigation. Again, the FBI advises against ranking the counties for the “safest” county based on the crime index, because crime index only looks at the number of crime offenses per population. Many other variables can account for crime statistics and whether a community is safe. Therefore, this report is not comparing the counties against each other but rather benchmarking the region and its counties against themselves for future comparisons. Connections Fast-growing populations have a strong impact on crime rates as does urbanization. However, as noted earlier in this section, many factors affect the crime rate and should be taken into consideration. The economy of an area can strongly influence whether crime rates go up or down. High rates of unemployment and poverty can spur illegal activities such as property crime. Whether people feel connected to their community — civic engagement — can often help police solve crime or keep gangs out of an area. A community-watch program, for example, is a strong deterrent to thieves. Locales active in new policing techniques such as “cops on bikes” and “community policing” often see lower crime rates than areas in which the police are not active with the community. Housing often affects crime rates if there is not affordable housing or if housing is overcrowded. Education can affect crime rates if the workforce finds itself unemployable due to advancing technology.
|