Definition

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, as defined in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, is the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.

The classification of this offense, as for all other offenses that make up the Crime Index, is based solely on police investigation as opposed to the determination of a court, medical examiner, coroner, jury, or other judicial body. The Program does not include the following situations in the count for this offense classification: deaths caused by negligence, suicide, or accident; justifiable homicides; and attempts to murder or assaults to murder, which are scored as aggravated assaults.

Trend

National Volume, Trends, and Rates

An estimated 16,204 murders took place in 2002. This figure represents a 1.0 percent increase over the 2001 volume. A comparison of the data from 5 and 10 years ago showed that the 2002 estimated volume decreased 4.5 percent from the 1998 estimate, and it fell 33.9 percent from the estimate for 1993. (See Table 1.)

During 2002, the murder rate was estimated at 5.6 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. The rate remained virtually unchanged from the rate for 2001. Five-year and 10-year trend analyses revealed that the 2002 murder rate was 10.5 percent lower than the rate in 1998 and 40.9 percent below the estimated murder rate in 1993. (See Table 1.)

Murder accounted for less than 1 percent of the offenses that make up the Crime Index reported in 2002. Among violent crimes, 1.1 percent were the offense of murder. (Based on Table 1.)

Community Types

When presenting crime data, the UCR Program designates three types of communities: Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), cities outside of MSAs, and rural counties. In 2002, MSAs, accounting for an estimated 80 percent of the Nation's population, had an estimated 87.8 percent of the Nation's murders. This equated to a murder rate of 6.2 offenses per 100,000 persons in MSAs. Cities outside of MSAs, with 8 percent of the population, had 4.4 percent of total murder offenses with a rate of 3.2 murder offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. Rural areas, making up 12 percent of the overall population, had an estimated 7.7 percent of murder offenses. Rural areas had an estimated rate of 3.6 murders per 100,000 in population. (See Table 2.)

Regional Offense Trends and Rates

The UCR Program divides the United States into four regions for data analysis: the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, and the West. (Appendix III provides more information on UCR regional definitions.) An examination of 2002 murder data showed the following information regarding the Nation's four regions.

The Northeast

Nearly 19 percent (18.8) of the Nation's population in 2002 resided in the Northeast; 13.6 percent of the estimated murder offenses for the same year were reported there. The Northeast had 2,203 murder offenses, a 3.2 percent decrease from the 2001 estimate. The 2002 murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants was 4.1, which was an estimated 3.7 percent rate decrease when compared to the rate of the previous year. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

The Midwest

With 22.6 percent of the U.S. population, the Midwest accounted for 20.4 percent of the country's murders. The estimated 3,298 murders in the Midwest represented a 3.0 percent decrease from the region's murder total in 2001. The 2002 murder rate per 100,000 population was 5.1, a decrease of 3.5 percent from the previous year's rate. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

The South

The South, the Nation's most populous region (35.8 percent of the total population), accounted for 43.1 percent of the murders in the United States. The estimated 6,982 murders in the South during 2002 were an increase of 2.0 percent over the previous year's estimate. The murder rate during 2002 was 6.8 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase of 0.7 percent when compared to the 2001 rate. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

The West

With 22.8 percent of the country's population, the West accounted for 23.0 percent of the national murder volume, or an estimated 3,721 murder offenses. This volume was a 5.8 percent increase from the 2001 estimate. The West's 2002 murder rate was 5.7 murder offenses per 100,000 persons, a 4.1 percent increase from the 2001 rate. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

Population Groups: Trends and Rates

Murder trends in 2002 varied greatly among cities, suburban counties, and rural counties. Two-year trend data (2001–2002) indicated that the Nation's cities collectively experienced a 0.6 percent decrease in murder offenses. Among population groups labeled city, cities with less than 10,000 inhabitants had the largest decline in murder, 15.3 percent, and cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 had the largest increase, 7.2 percent. Suburban counties had an 11.7 percent increase in murder. In rural counties, however, murder decreased from 2001 to 2002 by 2.3 percent. (See Table 12.)

Among city population groups, rate of murder in 2002 ranged from a high of 13.2 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in cities with populations of 250,000 and over to a low of 2.4 murders per 100,000 in cities with under 10,000 in population. Collectively, the Nation's cities had a rate of 7.0 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Suburban counties had a rate of 4.0 murder offenses per 100,000 population and rural counties, 3.8 murder offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. (See Table 16.)

Supplementary Homicide Reports

During 2002, law enforcement agencies contributing data to the UCR Program submitted Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHRs) for 14,054 homicides. The SHR supplies data on the age, sex, and race of both the victim and the offender; the type of weapon used; the relationship of the victim to the offender; and the circumstance surrounding the incident.

Victims

Based on 2002 SHR data provided (where age, sex, or race were known for the victims), 90.1 percent of murder victims were adults. Males accounted for 76.8 percent of murder victims. Just over 8 percent (8.2 percent) of male victims and 15.3 percent of female victims were under the age of 18. By race, 48.7 percent of murder victims were white, 48.5 percent were black, and 2.7 percent were other races. (Based on Table 2.5.)

Offenders

Of those who committed murder in 2002, 90.3 percent were identified as male; 91.7 percent of the male offenders were over 18 years of age. A racial breakdown of murder offenders for whom race was known showed that 49.8 percent were black, 47.8 percent were white, and 2.4 percent were persons of other races. (See Table 2.6.)

Data from single victim/single offender incidents indicated that 92.3 percent of black victims were slain by black offenders. Similarly, the majority of white victims—84.7 percent—were murdered by white offenders. (See Table 2.8.)

Weapons

The SHRs where weapon type was provided showed that 71.1 percent of murder incidents involved a firearm. Among the homicides in which firearms were the weapon, 76.6 percent involved handguns; 5.1 percent, rifles; 5.1 percent, shotguns; and 13.2 percent, other type or unknown firearms. Offenders used knives or cutting instruments in 13.4 percent of the murders they committed, personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.) in 7.1 percent, and blunt objects in 5.1 percent of the incidents. Other weapon types (poison, arson, narcotics, etc.) accounted for the remainder of weapon types used in the commission of murder. (See Table 2.10.)

Victim/Offender Relationships

Of the 14,054 homicides for which 2002 SHR data were submitted, the relationship of the victim to the offender was unknown for 42.8 percent of the victims. An analysis of the 57.2 percent of the victims for whom the relationships to their offenders were known revealed the following: 24.4 percent of victims were murdered by strangers, and 75.6 percent of the victims knew their assailants. Among the incidents in which the victims knew their killers, 12.7 percent of the victims were related to their murderer, and 30.5 percent of the victims were acquainted with their offenders. Husbands and boyfriends killed 32.1 percent of female victims, and wives and girlfriends murdered 2.7 percent of male victims. (Based on Table 2.12.)

Circumstances

Supplemental data submitted in 2002 indicated that felonies (rape, robbery, arson, etc.) accounted for 16.5 percent of the circumstances surrounding murder offenses; another 0.5 percent of murder offense circumstances were suspected of being felonious in nature. Arguments resulted in 27.5 percent of the murders, and 23.0 percent of the murders involved other types of circumstances (brawls due to the influence of drugs or alcohol, juvenile gang killings, sniper attacks, etc.). Circumstances were unknown in 32.6 percent of the incidents. (Based on Table 2.14.)

Clearances

Clearances occur either by arrest or by exceptional means, i.e., when elements beyond the control of law enforcement prevent the placing of formal charges against the offender. (Section III provides more information regarding clearances.) During 2002, law enforcement cleared 64.0 percent of the murders nationwide, making murder the most frequently cleared Crime Index offense. (See Table 25.) Juveniles accounted for 5.0 percent of the total clearances for murder, the lowest percentage of juvenile involvement among the individual Crime Index offenses. (See Table 28.)

Law enforcement in the Nation's cities collectively cleared 62.0 percent of the murder offenses reported within their jurisdictions. Among city population groupings, cities with populations under 10,000 had the greatest murder clearance percentage, 73.7 percent. The largest cities, those with populations of 250,000 and greater, cleared 57.8 percent of the murders reported in their jurisdictions, the least of all city population groupings. Additionally, suburban counties and rural counties cleared 66.6 percent and 78.9 percent, respectively, of reported murders. (See Table 25.)

Arrests

Total Arrests

During 2002, there were an estimated 14,158 arrests nationwide for the offense of murder. (See Table 29.) Adults accounted for 90.4 percent of murder arrestees. (Based on Table 38.) Overall, 51.1 percent of those arrested for murder were under the age of 25. (See Table 41.)

Arrest Rates

Based upon 2002 arrest data and population figures, the Nation's rate of arrest for murder was 4.9 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. By region, the South and the Midwest each had murder arrest rates of 5.7, the West had a rate of 4.6, and the Northeast experienced 3.2 murder arrests per 100,000 population. (See Table 30.)

Among population groups, the Nation's cities collectively had a murder arrest rate of 5.2 per 100,000 persons. The largest cities, those with 250,000 and over in population, registered the highest rate—10.4 murder arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. The lowest rate, 2.2 murder arrests per 100,000, was calculated for cities with 10,000 to 24,999 residents. Murder arrest rates for rural counties and suburban counties were, respectively, 4.0 and 4.3 arrests per 100,000 persons. (See Table 31.)

Arrest Trends

A comparison of 2002 murder arrest data to those of 2001 indicated a 1.9 percent decrease for the period. Arrests of adults also decreased, 2.2 percent. However, juvenile arrests increased 1.5 percent. By gender, murder arrests of males increased 0.1 percent, and those of females fell 15.2 percent. (See Tables 36 and 37.)

The 5-year trend data showed that overall murder arrests for 2002 fell 10.7 percent from the 1998 arrest level. Arrests of juveniles dropped 35.6 percent, but arrests of adults decreased 7.0 percent. An analysis of gender data for 1998 through 2002 showed that arrests of males for murder declined 10.6 percent, and arrests of females for murder dropped 11.0 percent. (See Tables 34 and 35.)

From 1993 to 2002, murder arrests fell 40.9 percent. Arrests of juveniles were 64.3 percent under the 1993 figure, and arrests of adults were 36.3 percent lower. The 10-year trend also revealed that arrests of males for murder were down 41.5 percent; arrests of females were 35.5 percent lower than arrests of females for murder in 1993. (See Tables 32 and 33.)

Arrest Distribution by Age, Sex, and Race

According to 2002 arrest data, by sex, males comprised 89.2 percent of all those arrested for murder. (See Table 42.) By race, blacks accounted for 50.0 percent of the murder arrestees; whites, 47.7 percent; and other races (American Indian or Alaskan Native; and Asian or Pacific Islander) made up 2.3 percent of the murder arrestees. (See Table 43.)

Justifiable Homicide

Justifiable homicide is defined in the UCR Program as the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty or the killing of a felon, during the commission of a felony, by a private citizen. Because these willful killings are determined through law enforcement investigation to be justifiable, or excusable, they are tabulated separately from the murder counts.

During 2002, contributing law enforcement agencies provided supplemental data for 564 justifiable homicides. According to those data, law enforcement officers justifiably slew 339 felons, and private citizens justifiably killed 225 felons. Tables 2.16 and 2.17 provide additional information about justifiable homicides.

Information regarding the UCR Program's statistical methodology and table construction can be found in Appendix I.