Like Many Parts of American Life, Violent Crime Is Still Largely Segregated

Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON ― Violent crime, like many aspects of U.S. society, is still largely segregated, according to a new Justice Department report.

The report, titled “Race and Hispanic Origin of Victims and Offenders, 2012-15,” was released by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics on Thursday. It found that in the majority of violent crimes, victims and offenders were of the same race.

From 2012 to 2015, victims and offenders were of the same race in 51 percent of cases of violence. White victims were attacked by white perpetrators in 57 percent of cases, while black victims were attacked by black offenders in 63 percent of cases. Eleven percent of the violent crime committed against black victims was committed by white offenders, while 15 percent of the violent crime against white victims was committed by a black offender.

Between 2012 to 2015, the rate of white-on-white violent crime (12.0 per 1,000 persons) was roughly four times higher than black-on-white violent crime (3.1 per 1,000), the Bureau of Justice Statistics said in a press release.

“The rate of black-on-black crime (16.5 per 1,000) was more than five times higher than white-on-black violent crime (2.8 per 1,000). The rate of Hispanic-on-Hispanic crime (8.3 per 1,000) was about double the rate of white-on-Hispanic (4.1 per 1,000) and black-on-Hispanic (4.2 per 1,000) violent crime,” according to the report.

(Photo: DOJ)
(Photo: DOJ)

Overall, violent crime dropped significantly from 1994 to 2015. White-on-white violence was down 79 percent, while black-on-black violence was down 78 percent during that period.

Also over those years, the report found that the rate of white-on-black violence “declined 74%, from 10.2 victimizations per 1,000 black persons to 2.6 per 1,000,” and that the rate of black-on-white violence “declined 80%, from 14.9 victimizations per 1,000 white persons to 3.0 per 1,000.”

Read the full report below.

Ryan Reilly is HuffPost’s senior justice reporter, covering criminal justice, federal law enforcement and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffingtonpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.