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Robbery

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The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines robbery as the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

Overview     

  • In 2011, there were an estimated 354,396 robberies nationwide. 
  • The 2011 estimated number of robberies decreased 4.0 percent from the 2010 estimate and 20.8 percent from the 2007 estimate. 
  • When compared with the 2010 rate, the 2011 estimated robbery rate of 113.7 per 100,000 inhabitants showed a decrease of 4.7 percent.  (See Tables 1 and 1A.)
  • Robberies accounted for an estimated $409 million in losses in 2011. (Based on Tables 1 and 23.)
  • The average dollar value of property stolen per reported robbery was $1,153.  (Based on Tables 1 and 23.)  Banks experienced the highest average dollar loss at $4,704 per offense.  (See Table 23.)
  • Among the robberies for which the UCR Program received weapon information in 2011, strong-arm tactics were used in 42.3 percent, firearms were used in 41.3 percent, and knives and cutting instruments were used in 7.8 percent of robberies.  Other dangerous weapons were used in 8.7 percent of robberies in 2011.  (Based on Table 19.)

Expanded robbery data

Expanded offense data are the details of the various offenses that the UCR Program collects beyond the count of how many crimes law enforcement agencies report.  These details may include the type of weapon used in a crime, type or value of items stolen, and so forth.  In addition, expanded data include trends (for example, 2-year comparisons) and rates per 100,000 inhabitants.

Expanded information regarding robbery is available in the following tables:

Trends (2-year):  Tables 12, 13, 14, and 15

Rates (per 100,000 inhabitants):  Tables 16, 17, 18, and 19

Weapons:  Tables 15, 19, and 21

Location Type, average value of items stolen by location per robbery:  Table 23

Robbery Table 1, “Robbery, Location, Percent Distribution by Region, 2011”

Robbery Table 2, “Robbery, Location, Percent Distribution by Population Group, 2011”

Robbery Table 3, “Robbery, Types of Weapons Used, Percent Distribution by Region, 2011”

Robbery location figure

What you won’t find on this page

Clearance and arrest data for robbery offenses.