Definition

According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, an aggravated assault is an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Attempts involving the display or threat of a gun, knife, or other weapon are included because serious personal injury would likely result if the assault were completed.

Trend

National Volume, Trends, and Rates

Nationally, an estimated 894,348 offenses of aggravated assault accounted for 62.7 percent of the violent crimes in 2002. The estimated number of aggravated assault offenses in 2002 marked the 9th consecutive year of decline for that offense. (See Table 1.)

In 2002, there were an estimated 310.1 reported victims of aggravated assault per 100,000 inhabitants. Two-, 5-, and 10-year trend data showed that the estimated rate was 2.7 percent lower than in 2001, 14.2 percent lower than in 1998, and 29.6 percent lower than in 1993. (See Table 1.)

When compared to 2001 data, the 2002 estimate of aggravated assaults showed a 1.6 percent decline. A 5- and 10-year trend analysis showed that the number of estimated aggravated assaults decreased 8.4 percent from the 1998 estimate and declined 21.2 percent from the 1993 estimate. (See Table 1.)

Community Types

The UCR Program categorizes communities as Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), cities outside of MSAs, and rural counties. MSAs are those community types made up of a central city of at least 50,000 inhabitants, the county containing that city, and adjacent areas with strong economic or cultural ties to the central city. Cities outside MSAs are mostly incorporated, and rural counties are composed of mostly unincorporated areas.

In 2002, the Nation's MSAs experienced an estimated rate of 332.3 aggravated assaults per 100,000 inhabitants. Cities outside MSAs had a rate of 300.1 aggravated assaults per 100,000 inhabitants, and rural counties had an estimated rate of 168.5 aggravated assaults per 100,000 persons. (See Table 2.)

Regional Offense Trends and Rates

The UCR Program divides the United States into four regions:  the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, and the West. (See Appendix III.)

The Northeast

In 2002, the estimated number of aggravated assaults in the Northeast, which comprised 18.8 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for 14.6 percent of the Nation's total for that offense. (See Table 3.) The estimated rate for Northeastern states, collectively, was 240.1 per 100,000 persons; this represented a 4.8 percent decrease from the 2001 rate. (See Table 4.)

The Midwest

The Midwest, accounting for 22.6 percent of the Nation's population, had an estimated 18.7 percent of the estimated aggravated assaults in 2002. (See Table 3.) The Midwest had an estimated rate of 256.7 per 100,000 persons, which was a 2.1 percent decrease from the 2001 estimated aggravated assault rate. (See Table 4.)

The South

In 2002, the South, the Nation's most populous region (35.8 percent of the population), accounted for an estimated 43.1 percent of the aggravated assaults in the United States. (See Table 3.) The South had a rate of 372.9 aggravated assaults per 100,000 inhabitants, which represented a 2.3 percent decline from the rate in 2001. (See Table 4.)

The West

The West, accounting for 22.8 percent of the population, had an estimated 23.7 percent of the aggravated assaults in the Nation in 2002. (See Table 3.) The region experienced an estimated rate of 322.2 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people. The rate was a decrease of 2.6 percent from the 2001 rate. (See Table 4.)

Population Groups: Trends and Rates

During 2002, the Nation's cities collectively had a 2.6 percent decrease in the number of aggravated assaults when compared to the 2001 figure. The largest decrease in aggravated assaults among the country's cities occurred in cities with 10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants, a 3.3 percent decline in volume from 2001 to 2002. The Nation's largest cities, those with populations of 250,000 and over, showed a 2.9 percent drop in aggravated assaults. Rural counties experienced a decrease of 1.9 percent. Suburban counties were the only population group with an increase, 0.1 percent. (See Table 12.)

The Nation's cities collectively had an aggravated assault rate of 372.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. Among the Nation's cities, those cities with populations 250,000 and over had the highest aggravated assault rate at 577.5 offenses per 100,000 persons. Cities with populations from 10,000 to 24,999 had the lowest rate at 219.1 per 100,000. Suburban counties had a rate of 249.3 aggravated assaults per 100,000 in population, and rural counties had a rate of 186.0 per 100,000 persons. (See Table 16.)

Offense Analysis

By weapon type, personal weapons such as hands, fists, feet, etc. were used in 27.7 percent of the aggravated assaults, firearms in 19.0 percent, and knives or other cutting instruments in 17.8 percent. Other weapon types were used in 35.4 percent of the aggravated assaults in 2002. (See Table 2.24.)

In comparison to 2001 data, 2002 data showed that the use of firearms in aggravated assaults increased 2.1 percent. The three remaining weapon categories showed decreases in their use during aggravated assaults compared to 2001 figures. The use of personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.) decreased 3.7 percent, the use of knives or other cutting instruments dropped 2.0 percent, and the use of other weapon types declined 2.4 percent. (See Table 15.)

Clearances

Nationwide in 2002, law enforcement agencies cleared 56.5 percent of reported aggravated assaults. Collectively, cities cleared 54.6 percent of aggravated assaults. Law enforcement agencies in the Nation's smallest cities, those with less than 10,000 in population, cleared 65.1 percent of their aggravated assaults. Law enforcement agencies in the Nation's largest cities, those with populations of 250,000 and over, cleared 49.1 percent of the aggravated assaults that came to their attention. Those agencies in rural and suburban counties cleared 64.5 and 61.6 percent, respectively, of the reported aggravated assaults in their jurisdictions. (See Table 25.)

The Nation's law enforcement cleared 63.3 percent of the aggravated assaults involving personal weapons such as hands, fists, or feet and 62.2 percent of aggravated assaults involving a knife or cutting instrument. In addition, agencies cleared 41.3 percent of the aggravated assaults that involved firearms and 55.5 percent of those that involved other weapon types. (See Table 27.)

Law enforcement in the Northeastern Region cleared the highest percentage of aggravated assaults, 64.7 percent. Law enforcement in the Western Region cleared 56.1 percent of aggravated assaults, followed by the Southern Region with 55.8 percent, and the Midwestern Region with 53.3 percent. (See Table 26.)

Clearances and Juveniles

When an offender under the age of 18 is arrested or cited to appear in juvenile court or before other juvenile authorities, the UCR Program records that incident as a clearance by arrest. However, according to Program definitions, clearances involving both adult and juvenile offenders are classified as adult clearances.

Of all aggravated assault clearances reported nationally in 2002, 11.6 percent involved only persons under the age of 18. In the Nation's cities, collectively, 11.7 percent of clearances for aggravated assault involved only juveniles. In suburban counties, 12.1 percent of aggravated assault clearances involved only persons under the age of 18; in rural counties, 9.5 percent of aggravated assault clearances were of juveniles. (See Table 28.)

Arrests

In 2002, approximately 472,290 persons were arrested for aggravated assault. (See Table 29.) The rate for aggravated assault arrests nationwide was 165.5 per 100,000 persons. Collectively, cities had a rate of 182.9 aggravated assault arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. The highest arrest rate for aggravated assault among the Nation's cities was in the Nation's largest cities (those with 250,000 and over in population) at 257.1 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants, and the lowest rate was in cities from 10,000 to 24,999 at 121.7 arrests per 100,000 persons. Rural counties had a rate of 109.0 aggravated assault arrests per 100,000 inhabitants, and suburban counties had a rate of 135.1 aggravated assault arrests per 100,000 in population. (See Table 31.)

Of the reported arrests for aggravated assault, 79.8 percent were of males. (See Table 42.) By race, 63.4 percent of those arrested during 2002 for aggravated assault were white, 34.2 percent were black, 2.4 percent were of all other races. (See Table 43.)

Aggravated assault arrests in 2002 were down 0.9 percent when compared to 2001 arrests; arrests of juveniles (persons under 18 years of age) for aggravated assault decreased 4.0 percent and arrests of adults decreased 0.4 percent. (See Table 36.) A comparison of 1998 and 2002 data revealed a 6.9 percent decrease in the number of aggravated assault arrests, a 15.0 percent decrease in the number of juveniles arrested for aggravated assault, and a 5.5 percent decline in the number of adults arrested for this offense. (See Table 34.) An examination of the 10-year trend data showed a decline of 6.7 percent in the number of arrests for aggravated assault, with a 23.0 percent decrease in the number of juveniles arrested and a 3.8 percent decline in the number of adults arrested. (See Table 32.)

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Figure 2.11

Aggravated Assault

Percent Change from 1998

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