U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

American Indians 

and Crime

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Average annual number of violent victimizations per 1,000

persons age 12 or older, 1992-96

The rate for American Indians (124 violent crimes per 1,000

American Indians) was more than twice the rate for the Nation

(50 per 1,000 persons)

Number of violent victimizations per

1,000 persons age 12 or older*

*The annual av erage murder rate is per 100,000 residents of all ages.
 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

810 Seventh Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20531

Janet Reno

Attorney General

Raymond C. Fisher

Associate Attorney General

Laurie Robinson

Assistant Attorney General

No1l Brennan

Deputy Assistant Attorney General

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.

Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Office of Justice Programs

World Wide Web Homepage:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

Bureau of Justice Statistics

World Wide Web Homepage:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

For information contact:

BJS Clearinghouse

1-800-732-3277
American Indians 

and Crime

By Lawrence A. Greenfeld

and Steven K. Smith

BJS Statisticians

February 1999, NCJ 173386

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics
U.S. Department of Justice

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.

Director

Lawrence A. Greenfeld and 

Steven Smith, BJS statisticians, 

wrote this report.

 

Devon Adams and Todd Minton

provided the statistical 

review. 

Maureen Henneberg, John 

Scalia, Jodi Brown, and Tracy

Snell provided analytic 

assistance and comment. 

Norena Henry commented on 

drafts of the report. 

Melvinda Pete and Tom Hester

produced the report. 

Marilyn Marbrook, assisted by

Yvonne Boston, prepared the 

report for final publication. 

 

ii American Indians and Crime 

This report and its data are

available on the Internet:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

The National Archive of 

Criminal Justice Data also

offers the data for the National

Crime Victimization Survey, 

the Survey of Inmates in 

Local Jails, and the Surveys 

of Inmates in State or Federal

Correctional Facilities:

http://www.ojp.icpsr.umich.edu/

NACJD/home.html

Contents

Foreword iii

Highlights v

Measuring criminal victimization 

among American Indians 1

Types of violent crime 3

Sex, age, and location of residence

of victims of violent crime 4

Household income of victims 

of violent crime 5

Victim-offender relationship 6

Race of offender 7

Intimate and family violence 8

Alcohol, drugs, and crime 9

Location of violent crime 10

Time of violent crime and 

crime in the workplace 11

Weapons and self-protective

measures used in violent crime 12

Injury rates, hospitalization, and

financial loss 13

Child abuse and neglect 15

Reporting violent crime 

to the police 16

Arrests of offenders and services

to victims 17

Race and ethnicity

in violent victimization 18

Murder among American Indians 19

Circumstances of murder 21

Murder victim-offender relationship 22

Race of murderers 22

Murder weapons 23

Arrests and convictions 

of American Indians 24

Felony convictions in State courts 25

American Indians under 

correctional supervision 26

Offenses charged in 

U.S. district courts 30

American Indians and the death

penalty 31

American Indian tribal 

criminal justice 32

Sources of data on American Indians 

and crime 34

Tables for the graphical figures 38
Foreword

This report represents a compilation and

new analysis of data on the effects and

consequences of violent crime among

American Indians. The report uses data

from a wide variety of sources, including

statistical series maintained by the Bureau

of Justice Statistics (BJS), the FBI, and the

Bureau of the Census. Data are reported

from American Indian crime victims on how

they were affected by the victimization and

about who victimized them. The report

also includes the first BJS estimates of the

total number of American Indians under

the custody or supervision of the justice

system.

The findings reveal a disturbing picture of

American Indian involvement in crime as

both victims and offenders. The rate of

violent victimization estimated from

responses by American Indians is well

above that of other U.S. racial or ethnic

subgroups and is more than twice as high

as the national average. This disparity in

the rates of violence affecting American

Indians occurs across age groups, housing

locations, income groups, and sexes.

With respect to the offender, two findings

are perhaps most notable: American

Indians are more likely than people of

other races to experience violence at the

hands of someone of a different race, and

the criminal victimizer is more likely to

have consumed alcohol preceding the

offense. However, the victim/offender

relationships of American Indians parallel

that of all victims of violence.

On a given day, an estimated 1 in 25

American Indians age 18 or older is under

the jurisdiction of the criminal justice

system — 2.4 times the per capita rate of

whites and 9.3 times the per capita rate of

Asians. But black Americans, with a per

capita rate nearly double that of American

Indians, are more likely to be under the

care or custody of correctional authorities.

This report is the first step in a vigorous

BJS effort to document issues of crime

and justice affecting American Indians.

Statistical programs have been instituted

to learn more about tribal criminal justice

agencies, such as law enforcement and

confinement facilities, and these will

complement data available from other 

BJS series covering the justice system.

This study was prepared as a resource to

respond to frequent inquiries. Since the

number of American Indians in our annual

samples are inadequate to provide definitive statistics, this report cumulates data

from over a 5-year period. I hope that this

report will serve as a foundation for other

reports and discussions about how best to

address the problem of crime affecting this

segment of our population.

BJS has undertaken improvements in the

National Crime Victimization Survey

(NCVS), designed to improve future data

collection on crime and its consequences

for American Indians. This year BJS

enhanced the NCVS to permit future

analyses to report statistics on victimizations occurring on tribal lands. In addition,

victim descriptions of the offender were

modified to permit greater precision in

future statistics about the victim’s perceptions of the offender’s race. Together,

these NCVS upgrades will result in much

greater detail about both locations of crime

incidents and perpetrators. 

Valuable contributions to the report were

made by Norena Henry, Director of the

American Indian/Alaska Native Affairs in

the Office of Justice Programs, and

Melvinda Pete, a BJS university student

intern. In the development of the report,

they helped to provide context for the

statistical findings.

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.

Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics

 American Indians and Crime iii
American Indians and Crime v

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Number of murders per

100,000 persons, 1992-96

55 or older

45-54

35-44

25-34

18-24

12-17

0 50 100 150 200 250

Age

Rate of violent victimization

per 1,000 persons in each group

American Indians

All races

*

Average annual rate, 1992-96.

• American Indians,

 experience per

capita rates of violence which are more

than twice those of the U.S. resident

population. 

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

All races

0 60 120

Number of violent victimizations

per 1,000 persons age 12 or older

• The murder rate among American

Indians is 7 per 100,000, a rate similar

to that found among the general

population. The rate of murder among

blacks is more than 5 times that among

American Indians.

Violent victimizations*

Highlights

,

American Indians in this report include

Alaska Natives and Aleuts. Asians

include Hawaiian Natives and Pacific

Islanders.

Murder*

Age*

• Rates of violence in every age group

are higher among American Indians

than that of all races. 

• Nearly a third of all American Indian

victims of violence are between ages 18

and 24. This group of American Indians

experienced the highest per capita rate

of violence of any racial group considered by age & about 1 violent crime for

every 4 persons of this age.
vi American Indians and Crime 

Sex of victims

Female

Male

0 40 80 120 160

Number of violent victimizations

per 1,000 persons age 12 or older

All races

American

Indians

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

0% 25% 50% 75%

Percent of violent victimizations

that were interracial

Race of victims

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

0% 25% 50%

Percent of victims of violence

reporting offender drinking

Alcohol use by offender*

Weapon use by offender

Offender race*

Firearm

0% 5% 10% 15%

All races

Nonlethal violence*

Percent of

violent victimizations

American Indians

Handgun

0% 20% 40% 60%

Percent of murders, 1976-96

Lethal violence

American Indians

All races

• Rates of violent victimization for both

males and females are higher among

American Indians than for all races.

The rate of violent crime experienced

by American Indian women is nearly

50% higher than that reported by black

males.

Sex*

• At least 70% of the violent victimizations experienced by American Indians

are committed by persons not of the

same race — a substantially higher rate

of interracial violence than experienced

by white or black victims.

• American Indian victims of violence

were the most likely of all races of

victims to indicate that the offender

committed the offense while drinking. 

• More than 10% of American Indian

nonlethal violent victimizations involved

a firearm. American Indian murder

victims were less likely to have been

murdered by a handgun than victims 

of all races.

*

Average annual rate or percentage, 1992-96.
 

American Indians and Crime vii

Number of arrests for Part I violent

crimes per 100,000 persons, 1996

Asian

White

Black

0 350 700 1,050 1,400

All ages American

Indian

Under age 18

Arrests for drug and alcohol

offenses

Drug

0 1,000 2,000 3,000

Arrests

Alcoholrelated

All races

American Indians

100,000 persons, 1997

Number of arrests per

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

0% 20% 40% 60%

Percent of violent victimizations

reported to police

*

Average annual percentage, 1992-96.

Arrests of adults and youth

• American Indian arrest rates for

violence among youth were about the

same as the rates among white youth 

in 1996. 

• Violent crime arrest rates for American

Indian adults were similar to those for

youth. Among other racial groups,

arrest rates for adults are lower than 

for youth.

• The 1997 arrest rate among American

Indians for alcohol-related offenses 

(driving under the influence, liquor law

violations, and public drunkenness) was

more than double that found among all

races. Drug arrest rates for American

Indians were lower than average.

Crimes reported to police*

• American Indian victims of violence

reported the crime to the police at about

the average rate for all races.

 
 

viii American Indians and Crime 

Under correctional supervision

or control

Federal convictions

*Includes persons for whom the

offense was unknown.

Other* 134 15

Drug 93 11

Property 178 21

Other 23 3

Rape 168 20

Robbery 22 3

Assault 153 18

Murder 81 9%

Violent

Total 854 100% 

American Indians convicted 

in Federal district court, 

fiscal year 1997

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

U.S. total

0 5,000 10,000

Total under correctional supervision

or control per 100,000 adults, 1997

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

U.S. total

0 1000 2000 3000

Number in prison

per 100,000 adults, 1997

In State or Federal prison

• An estimated 63,000 American Indians

are under the care, custody, or control

of the criminal justice system on an

average day — about 4% of the American Indian population age 18 or older.

• On average in 1997 about 2,000

American Indians per 100,000 adults

(persons age 18 or older) were serving

a sentence to probation, about half the

rate found among blacks.

• In 1997 about 16,000 American

Indians were held in local jails —

a rate of 1,083 per 100,000 adults, the

highest of any racial group.

• The rate of American Indians on

parole is similar to that of the general

population, about 300 per 100,000

adults.

• American Indians accounted for 1.5%

of Federal case filings in U.S. district

courts in 1997, and half of these were

for violent offenses. 

• 854 American Indians were convicted

in Federal court & 9% for murder and

20% for rape.

• On a per capita basis, American

Indians had a rate of prison incarceration about 38% higher than the national

rate.
Measuring criminal victimization

among American Indians

American Indians have higher per

capita rates of violent criminal victimization than whites, blacks, or Asians 

in the United States, according to data

from the National Crime Victimization

Survey (NCVS).

Population estimates from the Bureau

of the Census for July 1, 1998, indicate

that American Indians account for just

under 1% of the U.S. population:

 All races 270,029,000 100.0%

American Indian* 2,357,000 0.9

White 222,932,000 82.6

Black 34,370,000 12.7

Asian 10,370,000 3.8

Two demographic factors distinguish

American Indians from other racial

groups: in 1998 the median age of the

American Indian population is nearly 8

years younger than the U.S. resident

population, and American Indians are

the most likely to report Hispanic

ethnicity.

Median Percent

Race age Hispanic

 All races 35.2 years 11.3%

American Indian 27.4 15.2

White 36.3 12.4

Black 29.9 5.0

Asian 31.2 5.8

This report presents data on the rates

and characteristics of violent crimes,

including murder, experienced by

American Indians. Information is also

provided on American Indians in the

criminal justice system.

The NCVS collects information on the

Nation's experience with crime. It also

collects information on the race of the

victim and the race of the offender as

reported by the victim.

The NCVS provides estimates of the

violent crimes of rape, sexual assault,

robbery, and assault for persons age

12 or older. During 1992-96 the NCVS

found that American Indians experienced an average of almost 150,000

violent crimes per year from among the

estimated 10.8 million violent crimes

occurring on average per year among

all racial groups. Victimization data for

1996 indicate that American Indians

accounted for about 1.4% of all violent

victimizations that year, about the

same percentage as in preceding

years.

 American Indians and Crime 1

American Indian tribes in the

United States, 1996

The indigenous peoples in the

United States belong to about 550

federally recognized tribes that

have a distinct history and culture

and often a separate language. 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census,

Statistical Abstract of the United

States, 1997, table 51, p. 51.

All other tribes 51.0

Apache 2.7

Pueblo 2.8

Choctaw 4.4

Sioux 5.5

Chippewa 5.5

Navajo 11.7

Cherokee 16.4%

Percent of 

Tribe American Indians

*In this report the term American Indian refers

to Alaska Natives, Aleuts, and American

Indians. The term Asian encompasses Asians,

Hawaiian Natives, and Pacific Islanders.
Measuring criminal victimization

among American Indians

American Indians have higher per

capita rates of violent criminal victimization than whites, blacks, or Asians 

in the United States, according to data

from the National Crime Victimization

Survey (NCVS).

Population estimates from the Bureau

of the Census for July 1, 1998, indicate

that American Indians account for just

under 1% of the U.S. population:

 All races 270,029,000 100.0%

American Indian* 2,357,000 0.9

White 222,932,000 82.6

Black 34,370,000 12.7

Asian 10,370,000 3.8

Two demographic factors distinguish

American Indians from other racial

groups: in 1998 the median age of the

American Indian population is nearly 8

years younger than the U.S. resident

population, and American Indians are

the most likely to report Hispanic

ethnicity.

Median Percent

Race age Hispanic

 All races 35.2 years 11.3%

American Indian 27.4 15.2

White 36.3 12.4

Black 29.9 5.0

Asian 31.2 5.8

This report presents data on the rates

and characteristics of violent crimes,

including murder, experienced by

American Indians. Information is also

provided on American Indians in the

criminal justice system.

The NCVS collects information on the

Nation's experience with crime. It also

collects information on the race of the

victim and the race of the offender as

reported by the victim.

The NCVS provides estimates of the

violent crimes of rape, sexual assault,

robbery, and assault for persons age

12 or older. During 1992-96 the NCVS

found that American Indians experienced an average of almost 150,000

violent crimes per year from among the

estimated 10.8 million violent crimes

occurring on average per year among

all racial groups. Victimization data for

1996 indicate that American Indians

accounted for about 1.4% of all violent

victimizations that year, about the

same percentage as in preceding

years.

 American Indians and Crime 1

American Indian tribes in the

United States, 1996

The indigenous peoples in the

United States belong to about 550

federally recognized tribes that

have a distinct history and culture

and often a separate language. 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census,

Statistical Abstract of the United

States, 1997, table 51, p. 51.

All other tribes 51.0

Apache 2.7

Pueblo 2.8

Choctaw 4.4

Sioux 5.5

Chippewa 5.5

Navajo 11.7

Cherokee 16.4%

Percent of 

Tribe American Indians

*In this report the term American Indian refers

to Alaska Natives, Aleuts, and American

Indians. The term Asian encompasses Asians,

Hawaiian Natives, and Pacific Islanders.
The average annual violent crime rate

among American Indians & 124 per

1,000 persons age 12 or older & is

about 21⁄2 times the national rate 

(table 1). 

The average annual violent crime 

rate per 1,000 persons age 12 or 

older during that period was 49 for

whites and 61 for blacks. 

The aggravated assault rate among

American Indians (35 per 1,000) was

more than 3 times the national rate 

(11 per 1,000) and twice that for

blacks. The rate of robbery experienced by American Indians (12 per

1,000) was similar to that of black

residents (13 per 1,000) (table 3).

2 American Indians and Crime 

Note: The NCVS estimates of the racial distribution of the resident population

age 12 or older for the period 1992-96 correspond closely to the estimates

reported by the Bureau of the Census in their P-25 series of population

estimates. The NCVS estimate shows that American Indians represented

0.6% of those interviewed while the P-25 estimate shows that American Indians

account for 0.8% of the resident population age 12 or older. 

Asian 6,325,003 184,743 29

Black 25,587,158 1,570,386 61

White 180,543,825 8,880,083 49

American Indian 1,204,014 149,614 124

All races 213,660,000 10,784,826 50

Rate of violent victimization per 1,000

persons age 12 or older

Number of

violent

victimizations

Population 

age 12 or older

Annual average

Table 1. Annual average violent victimization rates for persons 

age 12 or older, by race, 1992-96

Asian

White

Black

American Indian 

All races

0 60 120

Number of violent victimizations

per 1,000 persons age 12 or older

Table 2

Asian 3.0 1.7

Black 12.0 14.6

White 84.5 82.3

American Indian 0.6% 1.4%

Total 213.7 million 10.8 million

Victims of

violence

NCVS estimates

of population

Annual average for persons 

age 12 or older, 1992-96

American Indians are overrepresented among victims 

of violence compared to their share of the general 

population age 12 or older.
For the 1992-96 period, the average

annual per capita rate of violent victimization translates into about 1 violent

crime for every 20 residents age 12 or

older. Substantial variation, however,

was evident by race. American

Indians experienced about 1 violent

crime for every 8 residents age 12 or

older compared to 1 violent victimization for every 16 black residents, 1 for

every 20 white residents, and 1 for

every 34 Asian residents.

Types of violent crime

The Nation's population of American

Indians age 12 or older experienced an

annual average of 126,400 simple and

aggravated assaults, 14,800 robberies,

and 8,400 rapes or sexual assaults

during 1992-96.

The types of violent crimes experienced by American Indians were

generally similar to that found across

the Nation (table 4). The most

common type of violent crime experienced by American Indian victims was

simple assault (56%). 

Among all the violent crimes reported

by American Indians, 28% were 

aggravated assault, 10% robbery, and

6% rape/sexual assault. Asian and

black victims of violence were more

likely than American Indian or white

victims to have reported a robbery. 

 American Indians and Crime 3

10,784,826 149,614 8,880,083 1,570,386 184,743

Average annual

number of victimizations

Simple assault 62.2 56.1 65.0 48.5 50.2

Aggravated assault 21.8 28.4 21.0 25.7 21.0

Robbery 11.7 9.9 9.7 21.5 24.6

Rape/sexual assault 4.3 5.6 4.3 4.4 4.1

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All

Type of crime races

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 4. Violent crime, by type of crime and race of victim, 1992-96

Simple assault 31 70 32 30 15

Aggravated assault 11 35 10 16 6

Robbery 6 12 5 13 7

Rape/sexual assault 2 7 2 3 1

Violent victimizations 50 124 49 61 29

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All 

races

Number of victimizations per 1,000 persons 

age 12 or older in each racial group

Table 3. Annual average rate of rape and sexual assault,

robbery, and assault, by race of victim, 1992-96 

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Number of simple assaults per

1,000 persons age 12 or older
Sex, age, and location of residence of

victims of violent crime 

The violent crime rate among American Indian males was 153 per 1,000

males age 12 or older, more than

double that found among all males (60

per 1,000 age 12 or older) (table 5).

The violent crime rate for American

Indian females during this period was

98 per 1,000 females, a rate higher

than that found among white females

(40 per 1,000) or black females (56 

per 1,000).

Among the

different age

groups, violent

crime rates were

highest (232 per

1,000 persons)

for American

Indians age 18

to 24. This

violent crime rate was more than twice

that found among whites and blacks of

the same age.

About 40% of American Indians reside

in rural areas, compared to 18% of

whites and 8% of blacks. The violent

crime rate for American Indians was

highest for those in urban areas, 207

per 1,000, and lowest for those in rural

4 American Indians and Crime 

Rural 37 89 37 33 30

Suburban 48 138 48 52 29

Urban 65 207 63 75 29

Location

55 or older 9 14 8 11 5

45 to 54 27 43 27 30 15

35 to 44 44 124 43 51 24

25 to 34 61 145 61 66 34

18 to 24 100 232 101 105 41

12 to 17 116 171 118 115 60

Age

Female 42 98 40 56 21

Male 60 153 59 68 37

Sex

Total 50 124 49 61 29

White Black Asian 

American

Indian

All 

races

Victim

characteristic

Annual average rates of violent victimization per 1,000

Table 5. Violent crime rates for persons 12 or older, 

by age, sex, location of residence, and race, 1992-96

55 or older

45-54

35-44

25-34

18-24

12-17

0 50 100 150 200 250

Age

Rate of violent victimization

per 1,000 persons in each group

American Indians

All races

In 1995 the Bureau

of Census reported

2.2 million American Indians and

Alaska Natives

residing in the

United States,

about 1.94 million 

of whom were

American Indians. 

In 1990 over half of

American Indians

and Alaska Natives

lived in 10 States: 

Oklahoma 252,000

California 242,000

Arizona 204,000

New 

 Mexico 134,000

Alaska 86,000

Washington 81,000

North 

 Carolina 80,000

Texas 66,000

New York 63,000

Michigan 56,000

Source: U.S. Bureau

of the Census, 1990

CP-2-1A, Social 

and Economic

Characteristics,

American Indian and

Alaska Native Areas.
areas, 89 per 1,000. However, this

rural crime rate for American Indians is

more than double that found among

rural whites (37 per 1,000) or blacks

(33 per 1,000). The urban crime rate

for American Indians is more than 3

times that found among urban whites.

About half (52%) of the violent crimes

committed against American Indians

occurred among those age 12 to 24

years (table 6). Two percent of the

violent crimes committed against

American Indians were against the

elderly, age 55 or older.

Nearly 6 in 10 of the violent crimes

experienced by American Indians had

been committed against males, similar

to the national distribution. 

 American Indians and Crime 5

10,784,826 149,614 8,880,083 1,570,386 184,743

Number of 

violent victimizations

Female 42.6 41.1 41.6 49.5 37.4

Male 57.4% 58.9% 58.4% 50.5% 62.6%

55 or older 4.1 1.9 4.3 3.3 2.4

45-54 7.5 4.7 7.8 6.1 7.3

35-44 17.0 18.0 17.1 16.6 18.3

25-34 23.6 23.5 23.6 23.2 26.3

18-24 23.6 31.5 23.4 24.0 21.7

12-17 24.2% 20.4% 23.8% 26.8% 24.0%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

White Black Asian

American

All races Indian

Victim

age/sex

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 6. Violent victimizations, by age, sex, 

and race of victim, 1992-96

Urban

Suburban

Rural

0 50 100 150 200 250

All races

Number of violent victimizations

per 1,000 persons age 12 or older

American Indians

$40,000 or more 42 84 42 50 22

$30,000 - 39,999 46 72 46 54 22

$20,000 - 29,999 48 104 47 56 32

$10,000 - 19,999 54 137 51 70 30

Less than $10,000 73 182 74 71 30

 White Black Asian

American

Indian

All

races

Household

income

Number of victimizations per 1,000 persons

Table 7. Violent victimization rates, by annual 

household income and race, 1992-96

American Indians with

incomes under $10,000

had the highest rate 

of violent victimization, 

182 per 1,000. 

At every income category

American Indians had 

a higher rate of violent 

victimization than 

persons of other races. 
6 American Indians and Crime 

More than half the violent victimizations of American Indians

involved victims and offenders who had a prior relationship, 

about the same percentage as for all violent victimizations.

Note: Figure excludes those victimizations in which the victim

did not know the relationship to the offender or those in which

the number of offenders could not be specified.

Stranger

Acquaintance

Family

Intimate

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Victim-offender relationship

Percent of violent victimizations

American Indians

All races

Victim-offender relationship

Overall, strangers were reported to

have committed 46% of the violent

crimes against American Indians (table

8).

More than half of the violent victimizations of American Indians involved

offenders with whom the victim had a

prior relationship. About 1 in 6 violent

victimizations among American Indians

involved an offender who was an

intimate or family member to the

victim, about the same as for victims 

of all races. 

Percent of violence

Victim-offender All American

relationship races Indians

Intimates 11% 8%

Family members 5 7

Acquaintances 34 38

Strangers 51 46

Simple assault 100 19 40 40

Aggravated assault 100 7 41 51

Robbery 100 10 14 76

Rape 100 25 43 32

All 100% 15% 38% 46%

Strangers

AcquaintancesIntimates/

Total family members

Type of

victimization

Percent of violent victimizations 

against American Indians

Table 8. Violent victimizations of American Indians, 

by victim-offender relationship and type of victimization, 1992-96
Race of offender

Violent crime against white or black

victims is primarily intraracial. Among

white victims of violence, 69% of

offenders were white (table 9).

Likewise, black victims of violence

were most likely to have been victimized by a black offender (81%). 

The NCVS classifies as “other race”

those offenders whom victims perceive

to be Asian or American Indian.

However, based 

on self-reports of

offender race, it is

clear that American

Indians and Asians,

when victimized by

violence, were the

most likely to report

that the offender was

from a different race.

The majority (60%) of American Indian

victims of violent crime described the

offender as white, and nearly 30% of

the offenders were likely to have been

other American Indians. An estimated

10% of offenders were described as

black. 

The less serious the offense, the

higher was the percentage of American Indian victims of violence describing the offender as “other race” 

(table 10). 

 American Indians and Crime 7

Note: Table excludes an estimated 420,793 victims of violence

(3.9% of all victims) who could not describe the offender’s race.

Asian 100 32 39 29

Black 100 7 12 81

White 100 11 69 20

American Indian 100 29 60 10

All races 100% 11% 60% 29%

Race of victim Total Other White Black

Race of offender

Table 9. Percent of violent victimizations, by race of victim

and race of offender, 1992-96

Table 10

Other 29 12 21 27 34

Black 10 6 24 12 8

White 63% 82% 55% 61% 59%

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Simple 

assault

Aggravated

Robbery assault

Rape/sexual

assault

All violent

victimizations

Race of

offender

Percent of American Indian victims, 1992-96

American Indian victims of rape/sexual assault most often reported that

the victimization involved an offender of a different race. About 9 in 10

American Indian victims of rape or sexual assault were estimated to have

had assailants who were white or black. 

Two-thirds or more of the American Indian victims of robbery, 

aggravated assault, and simple assault described the offender 

as belonging to a different race.
 

 

8 American Indians and Crime 

Intimate and family violence

Intimate and family violence

each account for about 9% 

of all violent victimizations

experienced by American

Indian victims, about the

same percentage as found

among all victims of violence. (See Note on the graph below.)

Most striking among American Indian victims of violence is the substantial

difference in the racial composition of offenders in intimate violence incidents

when contrasted with family violence. Among violence victims of all races,

about 11% of intimate victims and 5% of family victims report the offender to

have been of a different race; however, among American Indian victims of

violence, 75% of the intimate victimizations and 25% of the family victimizations involved an offender of a different race. 

Intimate and family violence involve a comparatively high level of alcohol and

drug use by offenders as perceived by victims — as is the case for Indian and

non-Indian victims. Indian victims of intimate and family violence, however,

are more likely than others to be injured and need hospital care.

Victims injured

Alcohol-involved

Interracial

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Percent of American Indian victimizations

Intimate v iolence

Family v iolence

American Indians

0% 5% 10% 15%

Percent of violent victimizations

Family v iolence

Intimate v iolence

Note: Intimate violence refers to victimizations involving current and former spouses,

boyfriends, and girlfriends. Family violence refers to victimizations involving spouses

and other relatives. Alcohol-involved incidents included only those incidents in which 

the victim felt that he/she could determine whether the offender had been using drugs

or alcohol.
 

 American Indians and Crime 9

Note: Table excludes those respondents who were unable to report whether

they perceived the offender to have been using drugs or alcohol.

Asian 100 20 3 2 75

Black 100 21 7 7 65

White 100 29 8 7 56

American Indian 100 38 9 8 45

Total 100% 28% 8% 7% 57%

Total Alcohol Drugs Both Neither

Race of

victim

Perceived drug or alcohol use by offender

Table 11. Violent crime, by the perceived drug or alcohol

use of the offender and by race of victim, 1992-96

Alcohol, drugs, and crime

Alcohol and drug use was a factor in

more than half of violent crimes against

American Indians (table 11).

Substantial differences can be found

by race in the reports of victims of

violence of their perceptions of drug

and alcohol use by offenders. Among

those who could describe alcohol or

drug use by offenders, American Indian

victims of violence were the most likely

to report such perceived use by the

offender.

Overall, in 55% of American Indian

violent victimizations, the victim said

the offender was under the influence of

alcohol, drugs, or both. The offender’s

use of alcohol and/or drugs was

somewhat less likely in violent crimes

committed against whites (44%) or

blacks (35%).

Asian/other 18 2 3 77

Black/black 21 8 6 66

White/white 36% 8% 1% 48%

American Indian/other 57 1 8 34

American Indian/black 35 13 3 49

American Indian/white 30% 10% 8% 52%

victim/offender Alcohol Drugs Both Neither

Race of Percent of victimizations in which the offender was perceived using&

Offenders’ use of alcohol and drugs reported by American Indian 

victims of violence varied with the race of the offender: Intraracial

violence was more likely to involve a drinking offender while 

interracial violence involved higher levels of offender drug use. 

According to American Indian victims of violence, offender 

use of alcohol was a factor in nearly two-thirds of the violent 

victimizations in which the offender was neither white nor black. 

Table 12
10 American Indians and Crime 

Strangers

Acquaintances

Family

Intimates

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Victim-offender relationship

American Indians

All races

Note: Intimates include current and former spouses, boyfriends,

and girlfriends. Family includes all other family members.

Percent of v iolent v ictimizations in which

the v ictims f elt certain they could

distinguish alcohol use by the of f ender

An estimated 3 in 4 

American Indian

victims of family

violence reported that

they perceived the

offender to have been

drinking at the time 

of the offense. About

half the persons of all

races who were 

victims of family

violence reported a

drinking offender. 

Location of violent crime

Just over 40% of American Indian

victims of violence reported that the

incident occurred in or around their

own home or that of a friend, relative,

or neighbor (table 13). This is higher

than the approximately one-third of

violent victimizations reported by

victims of all races to have occurred 

at or near a home. 

Nineteen percent of violent victimizations against American Indians took

place in open areas, on the street or 

on public transportation. Fewer than 

1 in 10 violent crimes were reported 

to have occurred at school. 

Other 10 9 10 6 9

22 19 21 28 24

Open areas, on street or public

 transportation

School 13 7 13 11 12

Parking lots/garages 8 9 8 6 9

Commercial places 13 13 14 9 19

9 14 9 10 7

At, in, or near friend’s, relative’s, 

or neighbor’s home

Near own home 11 17 11 14 9

Home or lodging 14 12 14 17 12

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All

Place of occurrence races

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 13. Violent incidents, by place of occurrence 

and race of victim, 1992-96
 

 American Indians and Crime 11

19% 14% 20% 12% 18%

Percent of all violent incidents

which occurred at the workplace

31% 26% 32% 25% 31%

Percent reporting 

workplace violence

Employed 60 52 63 48 59

Unemployed 40% 48% 37% 52% 41%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All 

races

Percent of victims of violence

Crime in the workplace

On average nearly 2 million violent crimes occurred in the workplace 

every year. The workplace accounted for about 1 in 5 violent crimes 

experienced by the public.

Among American Indians about 14% of the violent victimizations were 

reported to have occurred in the workplace. 

About 1 in 4 employed American Indian victims of violence 

said that the incident occurred in the workplace.

Midnight-6 am 19 13 11 11

6 pm-midnight 40 35 38 38

12 noon-6 pm 30 38 38 34

6 am-12 noon 11 14 13 17

Total 100% 100% 100% 100%

Dawn 5 4 4 4

Dark 52 44 46 45

Light 44 52 51 51

Total 100% 100% 100% 100%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

Time of violent

crime occurrence

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 14. Violent crime, by time of occurrence 

Time of occurrence and race of victim, 1992-96

Half of the violent crimes

committed against 

American Indians 

occurred after dark. 

About 1 in 5 of the violent

victimizations took place

between midnight and 

6:00 a.m.

Table 15
Weapons used in violent crime

In about a third of the violent crime

incidents American Indian victims were

faced with an offender who had a

weapon (table 16). About 13% of the

crimes involved an offender with a

firearm.

In almost 70% of the violent crime

incidents, the American Indian victim

resisted the offender, most frequently

through the use of physical force (table

17). American Indian victims used a

weapon in self-defense in less than 3%

of the violent incidents committed

against them.

12 American Indians and Crime 

Note: Victims may have used more than one measure.

Other 7 12 10 9

Got help or gave alarm 4 4 4 3

Ran away, hid, locked door 12 12 11 14

Persuaded or appeased offender 7% 9% 8% 11%

Nonconfrontational actions

Scared or warned off offender 4 5 5 5

Defended self/property 16 15 16 11

Chased, tried to catch/hold offender 2 1 1 1

No weapons 16 11 12 9

Weapons 3 3 4 1

Used physical force toward offender 18% 14% 15% 9%

Confrontational actions

None 31% 28% 31% 37%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

Self-protective actions

taken during incident

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 17. Self-protective measures employed by victims,

 by race of victim, 1992-96

Other weapon 5 6 5 5 4

Blunt object 4 7 4 4 5

Knife 7 7 6 9 8

Firearm 11 13 9 19 17

Weapon used 26% 34% 24% 38% 33%

Hands/feet only 35 33 35 34 34

No weapon used 74% 66% 76% 62% 68%

White Black Asian

American

All races Indian

Offender use

of weapon

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 16. Violent victimizations, by use of weapon 

and race of victim, 1992-96
Injury rates, hospitalization, 

and financial loss

American Indian victims of a violent

crime were more likely to have been

injured than were white or Asian crime

victims. Nearly a third of the American

Indian violent crime victims were

injured during the incident (table 18).

About a quarter of all violence victims

of all races were injured during the

incident. 

As a result of their victimizations, an

estimated 18% of American Indian

victims of violence sustained bruises,

the most commonly reported injury.

Among those injured, about half

received some kind of medical treatment & a third at the hospital. 

Seventy-one percent of American

Indian crime victims who were injured

during the incident and sought medical

treatment had medical insurance or

qualified for public medical benefits. 

Injured American Indian victims of

violence who sought treatment for their

injuries were as likely as other racial

groups to have some form of coverage

for medical benefits.

Percent with 

Injured victims coverage 

American Indians 71%

White 69

Black 71

Asian 64

 American Indians and Crime 13

Note: The percent treated was calculated on those injured during the violent incident.

Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

At hospital 19 32 16 26 24

Treated 44 53 41 55 44

Not treated 57% 48% 59% 45% 55%

Treatment for injuries

Other injuries 3 2 2 4 2

Bruises 18 18 18 19 17

Broken bones/concussion 2 5 2 2 1

Shot/internal injuries 1 3 1 3 2

Sexual assault 2% 4% 2% 2% 3%

Type of Injury

Yes 25% 32% 24% 31% 25%

White Black Asian

American

All victims Indian

Victim reported

physical injury

Percent of violent victimizations

Table 18. Violent victimizations in which the victims sustained

physical injury or received medical care, by race 
14 American Indians and Crime 

Other causes 754 4,116,086

Injury $641 $4,433,797

Lost pay from &

Replacement 191 1,013,064

Repair 152 1,907,680

Loss $155 $1,403,370

Property

Cash loss 223 960,907

Medical expenses $2,407 $21,227,333

Total $936 $35,123,400

Estimated total

annual loss

Average loss

per victim

Reason

for loss

American Indian

victims of violence

Table 20. Economic loss to American

Indian victims of violent crime, by type 

of loss, 1992-96

Asian 810

Black 1,081

White 818

American Indian 936

All $878

Average

dollar loss

Race of victim

of violence

Table 19. Average dollar loss 

per victim of violence, by race

of victim, 1992-96

Victims of violence were asked to

report the value of losses associated

with the violence they experienced.

These losses could include medical

expenses, property lost or damaged,

and pay lost by missing work.

About 1 in 4 American Indian victims 

of violence suffered an economic loss

as a consequence of the victimization.

The average per-victim loss among

American Indian victims of violence

reporting a loss was $936 (table 19).

The total annual loss for American

Indians arising from violent criminal

victimization translates into more than

$35 million (table 20). The losses

reported by American Indian victims of

violence largely resulted from medical

expenses that accounted for more

than $21 million.

Losses to American Indian victims of

violence were distributed as follows:

Medical 60.4%

Cash 2.7

Property 

Loss 4.0

Repair 5.4

Replacement 2.9

Lost pay 

From injury 12.6

Other causes 11.7
 American Indians and Crime 15

Each year the National Child Abuse

and Neglect Data System of the

Department of Health and Human

Services obtains from child protective

service agencies nationwide the

number of reports of alleged maltreatment of children. Published data for

1995 indicate that about 1 million

children were substantiated to have

been victims of neglect, physical

abuse, sexual abuse, emotional

maltreatment, medical neglect, or

other forms of verified maltreatment.

 Percent

Number of victims American

of maltreatment* Indian

1992 1,044,480 1.5%

1993 966,163 1.6

1994 1,011,595 1.8

1995 1,000,502 1.9

*Reported by child protective agencies.

Data may contain duplicate counts of

incidents.

Source: National Child Abuse and

Neglect Data System

Non-Hispanic American Indians

accounted for just under 2% of the

victims of child abuse/neglect in 

reports collected nationwide in 1995.

There is evidence that their share has

been increasing. Non-Hispanic

American Indians, who accounted for

just under 1% of the population age

14 or younger, were overrepresented

twofold as victims of child abuse.

On a per capita basis, 1995 data

indicate about 1 substantiated report

of a child victim of abuse or neglect

for every 30 American Indian children

age 14 or younger. 

Nationwide, the 1995 rates translate

into about 1 child victim of maltreatment known to a child protective

services agency for every &

& 58 children of any race

& 66 white children

& 30 black children

& 209 Asian children 

& 80 Hispanic children

Note: Rates were calculated on the number of children age 14 or younger 

because they account for at least 80% of the victims of child abuse and neglect.

Hispanic 1,486 1,254 -16

Asian 454 479 6

Black 3,560 3,323 -7

White 1,628 1,520 -7

American Indian 2,830 3,343 18

All children 1,866 1,724 -8%

1992 1995 Percent change

Number of victims per 100,000 children, age 14 or younger

Child abuse and neglect

In the United States from 1992 to 1995, American Indians and Asians 

were the only racial or ethnic groups to experience increases in the rate

of abuse or neglect of children under age 15, as measured by incidents

recorded by child protective service agencies. 

The increase in reported incidents involving American Indian children

was more than 3 times as large as that for Asian children. The per capita

rate for American Indian children was 7 times that of Asian children.

Table 21
Reporting violent crime 

to the police

Forty-five percent of American Indian

victims of violent crime reported the

crime to the police (table 22). This

level of crime reporting was similar to

that found among white (41%) and

black (50%) violent crime victims. 

Among victims not reporting the crime

to the police, the reasons that persons

of different racial backgrounds had for

not reporting were also similar. Nearly

half of both American Indians not

reporting the violent crime to the police

and victims of all races who did not

report the violence to the police said

that they considered the matter private

or too minor to bother the

police (table 23).

For those violent crimes

reported to the police

victims said that police

made an arrest in about 

a quarter of the cases

(table 24).

Twelve percent of the

victims who reported their

violent crime to the police

received victim services

assistance.

 

16 American Indians and Crime 

American Indians differ little from other racial groups 

in their reporting of violent crime to the police 

or in the likelihood that the victim knows of the arrest of the offender.

Asian 184,700 39 19

Black 1,570,400 50 22

White 8,880,100 41 28

American Indian 149,600 45% 28%

Subsequent arrest 

of offender 

(reported offenses only)

Reported to 

Victims the police

Average annual number

of victimizations

10,785,800

Other reasons 22 20

Too busy 3 2

Fear of or worry about offender 7 6

Reported to other authority 13 8

Police of limited assistance 11 14

Too unimportant 24 24

Personal matter 21 26

Total 100% 100%

American 

Indians

All 

races

Reason for not 

reporting to the police

Percent of victims of

violence not reporting the

victimization to the police

Table 23. Reasons why victims of violence did 

not report the victimization to the police, 

by race of victim, 1992-96

 Table 22
 

 American Indians and Crime 17

Arrests of offenders and services to victims

There were no differences between victims of violence who were 

American Indians and victims of all races in the percentage having

contacts with the prosecutor’s office or a victim services agency.

For all victims such contacts were higher in those cases 

in which an arrest was known to have occurred.

Note: The percent reporting an arrest and the percent reporting that they

had received assistance from a victim services agency were based on

those victimizations reported to the police.

Yes 10% 12% 10% 9% 9%

Victim services assistance?

Do not know 7 8 7 8 11

No 66 65 65 70 71

Yes 27% 27% 28% 22% 19%

Was an arrest made?

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All

races

Percent of violent victimizations

reported to the police

Table 24. Violent victimizations reported to the police,

by whether an arrest was made and whether victim

services were provided, by race of victim, 1992-96

Victim services agency 21 8

Prosecutor’s office 25% 3%

Subsequent contact with &

American Indian victims 19,000 49,000

Victim services agency 17 7

Prosecutor’s office 23% 3%

Subsequent contact with &

Victims of all races 1,228,400 3,296,800

Arrests No arrests

|

Resulted in &

Average annual number of violent 

victimizations reported to the police

4,525,200
 

 

 

18 American Indians and Crime 

Race and ethnicity in violent victimization

The NCVS asks respondents about both race and ethnicity. 

For 1992-96 about 9% of all participants, or about 18.5 million

residents age 12 or older in an average year, were of Hispanic

origin and belonged to one of the four primary racial groups

sampled in the survey— white, black, American Indian, or Asian.

Hispanic residents were estimated to consist of 17.8 million

whites, 0.5 million blacks, about 0.1 million Asians, 

and a slightly smaller number of American Indians.

Across each racial group, Hispanic residents were found to have

higher average per capita rates of violent victimization. Among all

racial and ethnic groups, non-Hispanic Asians were found to have

the lowest estimated rates of violent victimization, about 1 violent

crime for every 36 residents. By contrast, American Indian

residents who also identified themselves as Hispanic reported a

rate of violent victimization that translated into about 1 violent

crime for every 4 residents.

• While about 7% of all American Indian participants in the NCVS

reported they were also of Hispanic ethnicity, nearly 14% of those

American Indians victimized by violence were of Hispanic origin.

• Among American Indians who also described themselves 

as Hispanic, the rate of violent victimization was 4 times 

the rate found among all Hispanics and twice the rate 

found among non-Hispanic American Indians.

Note: The table excludes respondents who did not provide

complete data on race and ethnicity.

Asian 29 63 28

Black 61 85 61

White 49 56 48

American Indian 124 243 116

All races 50 58 50

All ethnicities Hispanic Non-Hispanic

Number of violent victimizations,

per 1,000, age 12 or older

Average annual rates of violent victimization, 

by race and ethnicity, 1992-96

Table 25
 

 American Indians and Crime 19

Murder among American Indians

Each year about 150 American Indians

become murder victims. Little year-toyear variation occurred in the number

of American Indian murder victims, but

recent years were below the peak

reached in 1986. 

American Indians were 0.7% of all

murder victims nationwide, about the

same as their share of the population 

(table 26). From 1976 to 1996 an

estimated 3,100 American Indians

were murdered. Because of variations

in reporting by law enforcement

agencies over time, detail on these

murder victims is available for 2,826

American Indian murder victims or

about 92% of the total estimated

number of victims.

Over the 21-year period, just under

14% of the murders of American

Indians occurred in California, proportional to California’s share of the

American Indian population. Alaska,

by contrast, accounts for about 10% 

of American Indian murder victims

over the period but just over 4% of the

American Indian population

nationwide. In Alaska in 1976-96,

American Indians and Alaska Natives

composed about 16% of the population but 28% of that State’s murder

victims. The 10 States in which about

63% of the American Indian population

reside have accounted for about 75%

of the murders.

Rates of murder

As observed across the other racial

groups, the number of murders per

capita among American Indians has

been declining. The rate of murder

among American Indians in 1996 was

below the national average for ages

under age 40 (table 27). For ages 40

or older, murder rates are close to the

national average.

For persons age 24 or younger in

1996, American Indian rates of murder

closely paralleled the rates among

whites and Asians and were well below

the rates among black victims. For

those age 25 to 29, the 37% decline in

the rate of murder among American

Indians reflects the largest decline of

any racial group.

1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996

0

50

100

150

200

Number of American Indian

murder v ictims

Annual number of murders of American Indians, 1976-96
 

20 American Indians and Crime 

Note: Supplementary Homicide Data are for 1976-96. 

Population data are for 1994. 

All other States 707 25.0 36.8 0.3 0.4

Oregon 71 2.5 2.0 2.7 1.4

New York 75 2.7 3.1 0.2 0.4

New Mexico 160 5.7 6.7 7.5 8.9

Minnesota 164 5.8 2.5 7.4 1.2

Washington 191 6.8 4.4 4.2 1.8

Arizona 233 8.2 10.8 4.1 5.8

North Carolina 245 8.7 3.9 2.0 1.2

Alaska 268 9.5 4.2 28.0 15.5

Oklahoma 326 11.5 11.9 6.2 8.1

California 386 13.7 13.7 0.6 1.0

 U.S. total 2,826 100.0% 100.0% 0.7% 0.8%

Total 

resident

population

All 

murder

victims

The American

Indian

population

All murders 

of American

Indians 

of murders 

of American 

Indians

American Indians as a

States with the Number Percent of & percent of &

largest number of

American Indian

murder victims

Table 26. Murders of American Indians, as a percent of all 

American Indians and of all murder victims, by State, 1976-96

*Increases occurred from 4 additional murders of persons age 40 to 49

and 4 additional murders of persons age 50 or older. Denominators

for the oldest group included persons age 50 to 74 years.

Asian -8.5 -9.1 -34.7 -31.2 -57.0 -48.9 -33.2

Black -20.6 -21.4 -22.4 -32.0 -29.4 -29.4 -33.6

White -9.3 -18.1 -24.5 -27.1 -19.4 -22.4 -18.7

American Indian* -20.0 -6.2 -37.1 -23.4 -24.8 2.8 12.7

Total -15.1% -18.0% -22.0% -28.0% -23.3% -24.1% -23.6%

Percent change, 1991-96

Asian 4.7 9.9 9.5 7.7 7.9 6.2 4.9

Black 30.6 97.4 75.0 60.0 46.3 34.1 21.1

White 5.4 11.6 9.8 8.5 7.2 5.6 4.0

American Indian 5.0 9.7 17.8 14.1 11.7 7.0 5.1

Total 9.3 23.9 18.6 15.0 12.0 8.7 5.7

Murder rate, 1991

Asian 4.3 9.0 6.2 5.3 3.4 3.2 3.3

Black 24.3 76.6 58.2 40.8 32.7 24.1 14.0

White 4.9 9.5 7.4 6.2 5.8 4.3 3.3

American Indian 4.0 9.1 11.2 10.8 8.8 7.2 5.7

Total 7.9 19.6 14.5 10.8 9.2 6.6 4.4

Murder rate, 1996

50 

18-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-49 or older

17 or

younger

Age of murder victims

Table 27. Number of murders per 100,000 population,

by race and age, 1991 and 1996
Circumstances of murder

Supplemental data regarding murders

with known circumstances indicate that

American Indian murder victims were

more likely to have been killed during a

brawl involving alcohol or drugs (13%)

than white (6%), black (4%), or Asian

(2%) murder victims (table 28). Fortyfive percent of American Indian murder

victims were killed during an argument,

and 11% were killed during the

commission of a violent felony. 

 American Indians and Crime 21

American Indian and Asian murder victims, whether

victims of violent felony murder or murders arising from

arguments, were more likely than whites or blacks to have

been victimized by an offender of a different race.

Asian

Black

White

American Indian

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of murder victims killed by 

Argument murders

Violent f elony murders

someone of a dif f erent race

Note: Table excludes an estimated 101,446 murder victims for whom the

circumstances were not known.

Source: FBI, Supplemental Homicide Reports, 1976-96.

Number 344,928 2,515 181,043 156,203 4,545

Other circumstances 24 22 27 21 25

Arguments 43 45 38 50 35

5 13 6 4 2

Brawl under the influence

 of alcohol/drugs

Suspected felony 4 4 4 3 3

Other felony offenses 10 5 10 11 8

Violent felony 14 11 16 11 27

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

White Black Asian

American

All races Indian

Murders with known

circumstances

Murders

Table 28. Circumstances of murder, by race, 1976-96
Victim-offender relationship 

in murder cases

In American Indian murder cases in

which the victim offender-relationship

was known, strangers accounted for

approximately 16% of the murders

(table 29). Acquaintances accounted

for about half the murders. Victimoffender relations in American Indian

murder cases were similar to those

found among all murders. 

American Indian and Asian murder

victims were more likely than white or

black murder victims to have been

killed by a stranger of a different race.

22 American Indians and Crime 

Note: Table excludes victims with unknown relationship 

to offender and victims and offenders of unspecified races.

Number of murder victims 281,603 2,242 147,417 128,551 3,393

Different races 5.0 12.2 7.1 2.1 20.9

Same race 13.8 3.9 14.4 13.4 8.2

18.8 16.1 21.6 15.5 29.1

Victim/offender

were strangers

81.2 83.9 78.4 84.5 70.9

Victim/offender had

prior relationship

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

Victims of

all races

Percent of murder

Table 29. Murders, by victim-offender relationship and race, 1976-96

Note: Table excludes cases in which the race of the victim 

or offender is unknown.

Source: Supplemental Homicide Data are for the period 1976-96. 

Population data are for 1994.

Number 313,032 2,381 162,609 143,854 3,688

Asian 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.1 59.2

Black 50.4 9.7 13.3 94.0 18.1

White 47.6 32.5 85.6 5.8 22.1

American Indian 0.8% 56.9% 0.6% 0.1% 0.4%

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All

races

Race of

offender

Race of murder victim

Table 30. Murders, by race of offender and victim, 1976-96 

Race of murderers

In most murder cases involving a white

or black victim, the offender was of the

same race as the victim (table 30).

However, when the races of the

offender and victim were known, more

than 40% of American Indian murder

victims were killed by an offender who

was not an American Indian; in 33% of

the cases the offender was white.
 American Indians and Crime 23

Murder weapons 

American Indian murder victims were

substantially less likely (28% to 50%)

than all murder victims to have been

killed by a handgun. Almost 30% of

American Indian murder victims were

killed by a knife, compared to less

than 20% of all murders.

Compared to all murder victims, American Indian 

murder victims were substantially less likely to have 

been killed by a handgun but more likely to have been 

killed by a rifle or shotgun or stabbed.

*

All other weapons

Personal weapon

Blunt object

Knife

Other firearm

Rifle/shotgun

Handgun

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Percent of murder victims

*Includes hands and f eet.

American Indian murder v ictims

All murder v ictims

Note: Excludes cases in which type of weapon is unknown.
 

24 American Indians and Crime 

Unlike the pattern of violent crime arrest rates for other racial

groups & higher for youth than for the whole population &

among American Indians the arrest rates for those under 

age 18 did not vary from the overall rate. 

Asian

White

Black

American Indian

All races

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Number of arrestees for Part I 

v iolent crimes per 100,000 population

Source: FBI, Crime in the United States, 1996.

All ages

Youth

Note: Arrest rates f or y outh were based on the estimated

number of arrests of persons under the age of 18

and calculated on the number of residents age 10-17.

Arrests and convictions 

of American Indians

Arrest data for 1996, provided by local

law enforcement agencies, indicate

that American Indians account for

0.9% of the arrests for Part I violent

crimes (murder and nonnegligent

manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery,

and aggravated assault) & an

estimated 6,600 arrests for these

offenses. 

Approximately 17% of American

Indians arrested for these violent

offenses are under age 18, nearly the

same percentage found among arrestees for all violent crimes in 1996. The

1996 arrest rates for Part I violent

crimes among American Indian youth

were about the same as for white

youth and were about a fifth of those 

of black youth.
 American Indians and Crime 25

Note: Arrest rate is the number of arrests per 100,000 resident population.

Arrest rates for youth were based upon the estimated number of arrests of

persons under the age of 18. The youth arrest rate was calculated on the

number of residents age 10-17.

Drunkenness 271 749 78 135

Liquor laws 255 727 510 1,108

DUI 553 1,069 61 98

Total alcohol violations 1,079 2,545 649 1,341

Total property 1,039 1,369 2,783 3,026

Aggravated assault 197 231 252 208

Robbery 59 37 165 67

Rape 13 16 19 14

Murder 7 7 9 5

Total violent 275 291 445 294

American 

Indian

All 

races

American 

Indian

All 

races

All ages Youth

Number of arrests per 100,000 population

American Indians have a rate of arrest for alcohol violations

(DUI, liquor law violations, and public drunkenness) more

than double the national rate. Arrests of American Indians 

under age 18 for alcohol-related violations are also twice 

the national average.

Note: The annual average estimates are based

on the National Judicial Reporting Program,

1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996.

Asian 6,243 0.7

Black 418,124 46.6

White 468,944 52.2

American Indian 4,980 0.6

Total 898,290 100%

Percent

Average 

annual number

Felony convictions

Table 32. Annual average number 

of felony convictions in State courts, 

by race, 1990-96

Table 31

Felony convictions in State courts

On average there are annually about

900,000 felony convictions in State

courts. American Indians account for

just over 1⁄2 of 1% of felony convictions across the Nation (table 32).

In 1996 State and local felony courts

throughout the United States

convicted an estimated 1 million

defendants. Among these were an

estimated 7,000 felony convictions of

American Indians, a rate of approximately 1 felony conviction for every

200 American Indians age 18 or

older. By contrast in 1996 whites

experienced a felony conviction rate

of about 1 conviction per 300 adults;

among blacks the rate of felony

conviction was 1 for every 51 adults; and

Asians reflected the lowest rate, about 1

felony conviction for every 600 Asian

residents age 18 or older. 
26 American Indians and Crime 

Parole 346 275 217 1,376 48

Federal prisons 57 113 41 181 24

State prisons 572 757 294 2,714 80

Local jails 282 1,083 178 1,031 78

Probation 1,650 1,965 1,306 4,561 183

Total corrections 2,907 4,194 2,036 9,863 414

Offenders per 100,000

resident population 

age 18 or older

Parole 685,033 100% 0.6 52.6 46.4 0.5

Federal prisons 112,973 100% 1.5 60.1 37.0 1.5

State prisons 1,131,581 100% 1.0 43.1 55.4 0.5

Local jails 557,974 100% 2.9 53.1 42.8 1.0

Probation 3,261,888 100% 0.9 66.5 32.3 0.4

Total corrections 5,751,277 100% 1.1% 58.8% 39.6% 0.5%

Number of offenders

White Black Asian

American

Indian

All

Number races

Percent of correctional populations

Table 33. Correctional population, by status and race, 1997

American Indians under 

correctional supervision

American Indians accounted for

about 1% of the more than 5.7

million adults under correctional

care, custody, or control on a

single day in 1997 (table 33). The

estimated 62,600 American

Indians with a correctional status

accounted for just over 4% of the

American Indian adult population

(not shown in a table). 

By comparison, an estimated 2%

of white adults, 10% of black

adults, and less than a half of 1%

of Asian adults were under

correctional supervision (not

shown in a table). 

In 1997, 54% of the American

Indians under correctional supervision were in the community &

on probation (47%) or parole

(7%). Twenty-five percent were

held in local jails, 18% in State

prisons, and 3% in Federal

prisons.
 

 American Indians and Crime 27

In 1997 just under half of the American Indian offenders

under the care, custody, or control of Federal, State,

or local correctional authorities were confined in prisons or jails.

By contrast, less than a third of correctional populations nationwide were confined in prisons or jails.

Local jails (26%)

State prisons (18%)

Parole Federal prisons (3%) (7%)

Probation (47%)

American Indian correctional population

62,659

Local jails (10%)

State prisons (20%)

Federal prisons (2%)

Parole (12%)

Probation (57%)

Nationwide correctional population

5,751,277
28 American Indians and Crime 

--Too small to estimate.

Number 165,733 4,241 314,867 9,824

Other public-order 11.6 17.5 13.6 21.5

DWI 3.6 13.8 9.6 13.1

Weapons 2.2 8.2 2.4 0.7

Public-order 17.4% 39.5% 25.6% 35.3%

Drugs 20.2% 6.5% 23.7% 15.8%

Other property 9.0 6.3 8.8 7.9

Motor vehicle theft 3.3 7.3 2.3 4.7

Larceny 5.6 2.3 9.5 6.2

Burglary 7.7 11.5 8.0 8.1

Property 25.6% 27.4% 28.6% 27.0%

Other violent 2.1 5.9 1.7 1.6

Assault 15.4 15.7 10.0 10.1

Robbery 8.8 2.2 5.5 7.9

Sexual assault 3.8 -- 3.0 7.1

Homicide 6.6 2.7 1.5 0.2

Violent 36.7% 26.6% 21.7% 21.9%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

American

Indians

All 

races

American

Indians

All 

races

Convicted jail

inmates

Unconvicted jail

inmates

Table 34. American Indian jail inmates, by offense, 1996

American Indians comprised just over 

1% of the offenders on probation or

parole or in State or Federal prisons

but an estimated 2.9% of persons in

local jails nationwide. American

Indians accounted for 2.5% of those

detained in local jails who had not

been convicted of crimes and 3% of

the convicted offenders in jail serving

shorter sentences or awaiting transfer

to other institutions.

Compared to jail inmates of all races,

when the statuses of conviction are

combined, American Indians were less

likely to have been jailed for a violent

or drug offense (table 34). However,

consistent with their higher arrest rates

for driving under the influence of

alcohol, a substantial percentage of

American Indians reported that they

were in jail charged with or convicted

of an offense involving driving while

intoxicated (DWI). American Indians

accounted for an estimated 10% of

unconvicted jail inmates charged with

DWI and just over 4% of convicted

DWI offenders in local jails. 
 

 

 American Indians and Crime 29

About half of convicted American Indian inmates

in local jails had been consuming alcoholic

beverages at the time of the offense for which they

had been convicted. An estimated 7 in 10

American Indians in local jails convicted of a violent

crime had been drinking when they committed

the offense.

Public-order

Drug

Property

Violent

All offenses

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Percent of convicted inmates reporting 

Ty pe of conv iction of f ense

All conv icted jail inmates

drinking at the time of the of f ense

American Indian jail inmates

Nearly 4 in 10 American Indian

inmates held in local jails had been

charged with a public-order

offense & most commonly driving

while intoxicated. 

Sixteen percent of convicted

American Indians serving time in

local jails had been convicted of 

a drug offense. Note: Blood alcohol concentration (BAC)

 is the number of grams of alcohol per 

deciliter of blood.

Asian 0.20 0.20

Black 0.18 0.26

White 0.20 0.28

American Indian 0.23 0.32

All races 0.20 0.27

Jail Prison

Blood alcohol concentration calculated from

inmates’ reports of drinking

at the time of their offense
30 American Indians and Crime 

In fiscal year 1996 U.S. attorneys investigated 1,927 suspects 

for offenses committed in Indian country.

Distribution of Indian country suspects investigated, by Federal court district& 

Number of investigations

 None

 Fewer than 50

 50 to 99

 100 or more

American Indians in the Federal justice system 

In 1997 U.S. attorneys filed cases in Federal

district court against 1,126 American Indians.

Almost half of these cases involved a violent crime.

The majority of cases were filed in U.S. district

courts in South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, 

and Montana.

Number 60,403 1,126

Other 27.0 13.8

Regulatory 3.3 2.0

Drugs 39.5 14.7

Property 5.2 12.9

Fraud 18.3 9.1

Violent 6.7 47.5

Total 100.0% 100.0%

American Indian

Type of offense All cases cases

American Indian

youth detained

In September 1994, 

American Indians were 

75 of the 124 juvenile 

delinquents confined 

under Federal jurisdiction

& about 60% of such

juveniles. 

The BJS Special Report

Juvenile Delinquents in

the Federal Criminal

Justice System, February

1997, NCJ 163066,

describes the circumstances of youth in the

Federal system. 

Federal district court filings, 1997

Table 35. Types of offenses charged in cases 

filed in U.S. district courts, 1997
 American Indians and Crime 31

Table 36

Over the period 1973-97,

6,139 persons were sentenced to death in the 

United States. During the

same years 52 American

Indians were sentenced to

death, 0.8% of the total.

Between 1976 and 1997 a

total of 432 persons were

executed, including 3 

American Indians (0.7% 

of those executed). This

translates into a rate of execution 

for those sentenced to death of 

about 7 per 100 persons receiving

a death sentence and for American

Indians, about 5.8 per 100.

Among the 6,139 persons sentenced

to death, 3,335 were still under a

death sentence at the end of 1997&

54.3% of those entering death row

over the period. For American

Indians, 28 of the 52 (53.8%)

sentenced to death between 1973

and 1997 still remained under a

death sentence at the close of 1997. 

About half of all death sentences

imposed upon American Indians

were in North Carolina (11) and Oklahoma (14). Oklahoma (8) had the

largest number of American Indians

currently under a sentence to death.

No Federal death sentences were

imposed on American Indians during

the period 1973-97.

U.S. total 52 3 1 20 28

Utah 1 1

Texas 1 1

Tennessee 1 1

Oregon 1 1

Oklahoma 14 1 1 4 8

Ohio 1 1

North Carolina 11 7 4

New Mexico 1 1

Nebraska 2 1 1

Montana 3 2 1

Maryland 1 1

Idaho 1 1

Georgia 1 1

Florida 1 1

Delaware 1 1

California 5 1 4

Arizona 5 1 4

Alabama 1 1

Under sentence

of death

12/31/97

Sentence

overturned 

or commuted

Died from 

Executed other causes

Total

sentenced to

State death 1973-97

American Indians and the death penalty

Percent remaining, 1997 54.3% 53.8%

3,335 28

Remaining under sentence 

of death, 1997

Percent removed by other means 38.6% 40.4%

2,372 21

Removed from death row by

means other than execution

Percent executed 7.0% 5.8%

Executions, 1976-97 432 3

Sentenced to death, 1973-97 6,139 52

American 

Indians

All 

races
 

32 American Indians and Crime 

Nebraska Omaha Tribe 20 12 9

16 4 11

Confederated Tribes of Salish and

Kootenai

Chippewa Cree Tribe 22 4 3

Northern Cheyenne Tribe 10 3 3

Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe 21 21 19

Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribe 8 5

Crow Tribe 12 2 5

Montana Blackfeet Tribe 34 34 12

32 8 17

Mississippi Band of Choctaw

Indians

Mississippi

Red Lake Chippewa Tribe 18 4 13

Minnesota Boise Forte Tribe 8 1

Michigan Saginaw Chippewa Tribe 2 6 9

Idaho Shoshone-Bannock Tribe 24 4 4

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe 14 2 5

Colorado Southern Ute Tribe 4 5

California Chehalis Indian Tribe 2 1

Pascua Yaqui Tribe 1 1 6

Supai Tribe 4 2

36 8 7

Hualapai, Havasupai, Prescott

Apache, and Tonto Apache

San Carlos Apache Tribe 38 14

Community 70 33 18

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian

Gila River Indian Community 73 32 40

Tohono O'Odham Nation 33 16 31

Hopi Tribe 68 28 8

White Mountain Apache Tribe 31 17 22

Fort Mohave Indian Tribe 1 1 4

Colorado River Indian Tribes 30 8 12

Arizona Navajo Nation 208 36 96

Alaska Metlakatla Indian Community 8 4

State Tribe Adult Juvenile Staff

Capacity

Table 37. Tribal jail capacity and jail staff, by State and tribe, 1998

American Indian tribal criminal

justice

The BJS Census of State and Local

Law Enforcement Agencies, 1996

identified 135 tribal law enforcement

agencies with a total of 1,731 full-time

sworn officers. The Bureau of Indian

Affairs (BIA), which also has law

enforcement responsibility for selected

tribal jurisdictions, reported 339 fulltime officers authorized to make arrests

and carry firearms.

In addition to law enforcement

services, American Indian tribes and

the BIA operate jails in tribal areas.* 

Data provided by BIA indicate that

these facilities employed 659 persons

and had an authorized capacity to

house just over 2,000 adults and

juveniles (table 37).

*BJS has conducted a survey of tribal confinement facilities. Analysis of survey responses will

be reported in Survey of Jails in Indian Country,

1998, forthcoming, NCJ 173410.
 American Indians and Crime 33

Note: Data were supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the

Interior. Data are for April 1998. Staff of the facilities includes juvenile and adult

detention officers and dispatchers.

 Total 1,462 536 649

Wyoming Shoshone and Arapaho Tribe 26 4 6

Wisconsin Menominee Tribe 32 10 16

30 17 10

Confederated Tribes of Yakama

Nation

Kalispel and Spokane Tribe 8 4

Puget Sound Tribe 7 1 7

Washington Olympic Peninsula Tribe 14 4 8

Utah Uintah and Ouray Tribe 24 5

Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe 16 4 5

Rosebud Sioux Tribe 48 16 12

Oglala Sioux Tribe 52 32 31

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe 14 2 4

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe 10 4 2

South Dakota Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 53 10 24

BIA Law Enforcement Services 4

32 12 13

Confederated Tribes of Warm

Springs

Oregon

Oklahoma Sac and Fox Nation 69 23

Three Affiliated Tribes 8 6

Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe 22 8 8

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 42 8 8

North Dakota Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe 25 8 5

Navajo Nation 41 14 21

Zuni Pueblo 22 12 13

Isleta Pueblo 6 6

Ramah Navajo 10 5

Taos Pueblo 8 5

Mescalero Apache Tribe 24 7

Laguna Pueblo Tribe 12 4 5

New Mexico Jicarilla Apache Tribe 0 8 0

28 5

Battle Mountain, Duckwater, Ely,

Goshute, South Fork, Elko Band,

and Wells Band

Nevada

State Tribe Adult Juvenile Staff

Capacity

Table 37. Continued.
Sources of data on American 

Indians and crime

One of the challenges facing all

Federal statistical agencies is that

representative statistical data about

American Indians are difficult to

acquire and use. This is true for a

number of reasons with respect to

crime data:

Sampling & Most Federal surveys

utilize nationally representative

samples of persons or households,

thus limiting the capability to describe

small population subgroups in detail.

(American Indians comprise under 1%

of the U.S. population.) In addition,

sampling procedures, relying upon

selection of respondents within

clustered geographical sampling units,

may by chance miss those areas

where concentrations of residences of

small subgroups (such as American

Indians) may be located. Finally, the

fluidity of population movement

between tribal and nontribal areas for

both Indian and non-Indian populations

makes it difficult to systematically

describe those living in these areas.

The 1990 Census revealed, for

example, that nearly half the population

of reservation and trust lands was

non-Indian.

The design of national surveys such as

the NCVS does not permit calculating

separate statistics for each American

Indian tribe.

Coverage of data & Statistical coverage of incidents or cases in Indian

country utilizing law enforcement,

judicial, or corrections data is difficult to

quantify because Federal, State, and

local authorities may have overlapping

jurisdiction on tribal lands. Data about

some crimes are collected by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Indian

country while other crimes by or

against American Indians are recorded

by local sheriffs or police. Arrest data

are profoundly limited by the lack of

information on arrest coverage among

tribal and BIA law enforcement

agencies. 

 

Data on trends & Crime data relying

upon either samples of population or

incident and case-level data from

administrative records suffers from the

lack of repetitive collection so that

change rates and trends can be

analyzed. Much data on the employment, education, and quality of life

measures of American Indians are only

available from periodic collections and

are often of only limited value for

comparisons over time. Often many

years have passed since they were last

conducted. Agencies do not generally

use some form of aggregation or multiyear averages for examining change or

for comparisons to other racial or

ethnic groups.

These limitations severely circumscribe

the depth and generalizability of data

on American Indians and inhibit the

Nation’s ability to know much of the

details about victims, offenders, and

the consequences of crime for both.

BJS has made a strong commitment

toward improving this situation through

the National Crime Victimization

Survey, improvements planned for the

National Incident-Based Reporting

System, and periodic BJS surveys of

offender populations. 

34 American Indians and Crime
National Crime Victimization Survey

The National Crime Victimization

Survey (NCVS) is one of two statistical

series maintained by the Department of

Justice to learn about the extent to

which crime is occurring. The NCVS,

which gathers data on criminal victimization from a national sample of household respondents, provides annual

estimates of crimes experienced by the

public without regard to whether a law

enforcement agency was called about

the crime. Initiated in 1972, the NCVS

was designed to complement what is

known about crimes reported to local

law enforcement agencies under the

FBI's annual compilation known as the

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).

The NCVS gathers information about

crime and its consequences from a

nationally representative sample of U.S.

residents age 12 or older about any

crimes they may have experienced. For

personal contact crimes the survey

asks about the perpetrator. Asking the

victim about his/her relationship to the

offender is critical to determining

whether the crime occurred between

intimates.

In the latter half of the 1980's, BJS, with

the Committee on Law and Justice of

the American Statistical Association,

sought to improve the NCVS components to enhance the measurement of

crimes including rape, sexual assault,

and intimate and family violence. The

new questions and revised procedures

were phased in from January 1992

through June 1993 in half the sampled

households. Since July 1993 the

redesigned methods have been used

for the entire national sample. 

One of the important contributions of

the NCVS is that it permits multiple

years of responses to the same

questions to be analyzed, facilitating

research on small subgroups of the

population. For this study 5 years of

NCVS data (1992-96) were combined,

resulting in more than 1.1 million interviews, just over 7,000 of which were

conducted among American Indians.

This represents the largest national

sample of American Indians assembled

for purposes of better understanding

the incidence and effects of criminal

victimization. In addition, changes are

being introduced to the NCVS which will

permit future disaggregation of those

incidents occurring on tribal lands from

those occurring elsewhere. 

Uniform Crime Reporting program

The UCR program of the FBI provides

another opportunity to examine the

issue of crime and violence among

American Indians through the incidentbased Supplementary Homicide Report

program and the summary compilation

of national arrest data. The summarybased arrest component of the UCR

provides data by race of arrestees for

both Part I crimes and the less serious

Part II crimes. 

In 1996 detailed data by race and

offense were available for about 3 out 

of 4 arrests nationwide (about 11.1

million of the estimated 15.2 million

arrests that year). American Indians

are estimated to account for just under

1% of those arrested for Part I violent

crimes and a slightly higher percentage

of those arrested for Part I property

crimes. Part II arrest offenses show

that American Indians comprise larger

percentages of those arrested for DUI,

American Indians and Crime 35
vagrancy, liquor law violations, and

public drunkenness.

Specific UCR coverage of those

arrests by tribal or BIA law enforcement agencies is not known, and the

extent to which they are included in the

national estimates of arrests is not

systematically described. In addition,

the 1996 UCR does indicate reduced

reporting of arrests by race (table 43)

and that a number of jurisdictions

(Kentucky, Illinois, the District of

Columbia, Florida, Vermont, Kansas,

and Montana) supplied either limited or

no arrest data. Some of these incomplete or missing States, notably

Montana, may affect the national

estimates for American Indians. 

National Incident-Based Reporting

System

The National Incident-Based Reporting

System (NIBRS) represents the next

generation of crime data from law

enforcement agencies. Rather than

being restricted to a group of 8 Index

crimes that the summary-based

program uses, NIBRS obtains information on 57 types of crimes. The information collected on each violent crime

incident includes victim-offender

demographics, victim-offender relationship, time and place of occurrence,

weapon use, and victim injuries. An

important contribution of NIBRS is that

investigating officers are asked to

record information on the race of

victims and offenders in the incident. 

As of the end of 1997, jurisdictions

certified by the FBI as capable of

reporting incident-based data in the

required format accounted for just over

7% of the U.S. population (about 19

million Americans) and just over 6% of

all Index crimes (murders, rapes,

robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies, and motor vehicle

thefts). In those States with certified

NIBRS systems, about 50% of the

population is now covered by NIBRS

reporting to the FBI. 

BJS is currently funding preliminary

studies of NIBRS data on two Indian

reservations and their utility for improving our knowledge of crime with special

regard for such concerns as intimate

violence, family violence, and domestic

violence and the role alcohol may play

in these kinds of police-reported

incidents. The Mille Lac (Minnesota)

and Lummi (Washington) tribal law

enforcement agencies will use NIBRS

data as a part of a case-tracking

system to follow the subsequent

processing of criminal incidents

brought to the attention of police.

Surveys of probationers and jail 

and prison inmates

BJS also conducts national surveys of

persons under probation supervision

and those confined in local jails and

State and Federal prisons. These

nationally representative surveys are

the principal source of information on

those serving time following a conviction: their backgrounds, their prior

criminal histories, and the circumstances surrounding the offense for

which they had been incarcerated.

Both jail and prison surveys obtain

from violent offenders details about the

offender's relationship to the victim and

how the crime was carried out. All

surveys ask respondents to identify

their race and ethnicity. 

36 American Indians and Crime
Law Enforcement Management and

Administrative Statistics

BJS maintains the Law Enforcement

Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) series as the principal

national source of data on the operations of police and sheriff’s departments

nationwide. LEMAS compiles information every 3 to 4 years from all large law

enforcement agencies (at least 100

sworn personnel) and a sample of all

other departments. To create the

sample BJS also sponsors the Census

of State and Local Law Enforcement

Agencies, collecting basic information

about the functions and number of

personnel of all agencies 

in the United States. 

LEMAS data are obtained on the

organization and administration of law

enforcement agencies, agency responsibilities, operating expenditures, job

functions, weapons policies, and

demographic characteristics of sworn

personnel. BJS obtains similar information from campus law enforcement

agencies and Federal law enforcement

agencies.

LEMAS data are available on the race

and ethnicity of law enforcement

personnel since 1987.

National Judicial Reporting Program

The National Judicial Reporting

Program (NJRP) is a biennial sample

survey of court records on convicted

felons nationwide. Using a nationally

representative sample of counties,

NJRP compiles information on the

sentences that felons receive in State

courts and on the characteristics of

convicted felons. The NJRP first

reported felony sentencing data for

1986 and has provided national

estimates at 2-year intervals since that

time.

In addition to the convicted felon’s race

and ethnicity, NJRP obtains individuallevel data on the conviction offense,

sentences received, case-processing,

methods of conviction, and a wide

variety of other defendant

characteristics.

Federal Justice Statistics Program

The Federal Justice Statistics Program

(FJSP) provides annual data on

workload, activities, and case outcomes

in the Federal criminal justice system.

Information is reported on all aspects of

case processing in the Federal justice

system including the number of persons

investigated, prosecuted, convicted,

incarcerated, sentenced to probation,

released prior to trial, handled by

magistrates, sentencing outcomes, and

time served. Data for this series are

obtained from the Executive Office for

U.S. Attorneys, the Administrative

Office of the U.S. Courts, the U.S.

Sentencing Commission, and the

Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Data are available by defendant race

and ethnicity at each processing stage

of the Federal criminal justice system.

The FJSP was initiated in 1980. 

American Indians and Crime 37
Numerical tables for the graphical

figures

38 American Indians and Crime

*The average annual murder rate is for

100,000 persons, all ages, 1992-96.

Simple assault 31 70

Aggravated assault 11 35

Robbery 6 12

Rape/sexual assault 2 7

Murder* 9 7

All violent 50 124

American

Indians

All 

Age of victim races

Rate of violent victimization per 1,000 persons

under age 12 in each

group

Cover. Violent victimization rates,

1992-96

Asian 22

White 36

Black 28

American Indian 46%

Percent of victims of

violence reporting

Race of victim offender drinking

Highlights. Page vi. Alcohol use

by the offender, 1992-96

Asian 29

White 49

Black 61

American Indian 124

All races 50

Number of violent

victimizations per

1,000 persons age 

12 or older

Highlights. Pages v and 2.

Violent victimizations, 1992-96

Female 42 98

Male 60 153

American

Indians

All 

Sex of victim races

Rate of violent victimization

per 1,000 persons age 12 or

more in each group

Highlights. Page vi. Sex of victim,

1992-96

Asian 5

White 5

Black 34

American Indian 7

Number of murders

Race of victim per 100,000 persons

Highlights. Page v. Murder,

1992-1996

55 or older 9 14

45-54 27 43

35-44 44 124

25-34 61 145

18-24 100 232

12-17 116 171

American

Indians

All 

Age of victim races

Rate of violent victimization

per 1,000 persons in each

group

Highlights. Pages v and 4. Age of

victim, 1992-96

Asian 68

White 31

Black 19

American Indian 70%

Percent of violent

victimizations that

Race of victim were interracial

Highlights. Page vi. Offender

race, 1992-96
American Indians and Crime 39

Urban 65 207

Suburban 48 138

Rural 37 89

American

Indians

All 

races

Residence

of victim

Number of violent victimization per 1,000 persons age

12 or more in each group

Page 5. Location of victims 

of violence, 1992-96

Asian 414

White 2,036

Black 9,863

American Indian 4,193

U.S. total 2,907

Total under correctional supervision or

control per 100,000

adults

Highlights. Page viii. Under

correctional supervision or

control, 1997

Alcohol-related 1,064 2,550

Drug 592 344

American 

Indians

All

races

Arrest

offense

Number of arrests

per 100,000 persons 

Highlights. Page vii. Arrests 

for drug and alcohol offenses,

1997

50% 28%

Handgun in 

lethal violence

11% 13%

Firearm in nonlethal violence

American

Indians

All 

Age of victim races

Percent of violent 

victimizations or murders

Highlights. Page vi. Weapon use

by offender, 1992-96

Asian 98 192

White 182 283

Black 937 1,356

American Indian 291 294

Under 

age 18

All 

ages

Race of 

arrestees

Number of arrests for Part I

violent crimes per 100,000

persons in each group

Highlights. Page vii. Arrests 

of adults and youth, 1996

Asian 39

White 41

Black 50

American Indian 46%

Percent of violent

victimizations reported

Race of victim to the police

Highlights. Page vii. Crimes

reported to the police, 1992-96 

Asian 104

White 335

Black 2,895

American Indian 870

U.S. total 629

Number in prison per

100,000 adults

Highlights. Page viii. In State or

Federal prison, 1997

Asian 15

White 32

Black 30

American Indian 70

Number of simple

assaults per 1,000

Race of victim persons age 12 or older

Page 3. Simple assault rates,

1992-96
40 American Indians and Crime

Victims injured 59 49

Alcohol-involved 58 67

Interracial 75% 25%

Family

Intimates members

Percent of violent 

victimizations against

American Indians

Page 8. Characteristics of intimate

and family violence among

American Indians, 1992-96

Stranger 28.9 42.0

Acquaintance 36.1 40.0

Family 49.2 76.5

Intimate 64.7% 60.9%

American 

Indians

All 

races

Victim-offender

relationship

Percent of violent victimizations in which the

victims felt certain they

could distinguish alcohol

use by the offender

Page 10. Violent offender use 

of alcohol, by victim-offender

relationship and race, 1992-96

1996 134

1995 161

1994 133

1993 141

1992 158

1991 152

1990 150

1989 151

1988 133

1987 151

1986 176

1985 141

1984 133

1983 152

1982 167

1981 140

1980 154

1979 146

1978 123

1977 140

1976 140

Number of murders of

American Indians

Page 19. Number of murders of

American Indians, 1976-96

Asian 80 27

White 43 9

Black 8 5

American Indian 74% 38%

An

argument

Commission

of a felony

Race of 

murder victim

Percent of murder victims

killed by someone of a 

different race, committed

during &

Page 21. Murders by someone 

of a different race from the victim,

by race of victim and type 

of murder, 1976-96

Stranger 50.8 45.7

Acquaintance 33.7 38.7

Family 4.7 6.7

Intimate 10.7% 8.9%

American 

Indians

All 

races

Victim-offender

relationship

Percent of violent 

victimizations 

Page 6. Victim-offender

relationship in violent 

victimizations, by race, 1992-96
American Indians and Crime 41

*Excludes cases in which type of weapon 

is unknown.

4.1 4.9

Other types 

of weapons

6.1 11.3

Personal weapon,

including hands

and feet

Blunt object 5.3 8.0

Knife 18.5 29.1

Other firearm 4.5 1.6

Rifle/shotgun 11.2 17.0

Handgun 50.3% 28.1%

American 

Indians

All 

Weapon* races

Percent of murder

victims

Page 23. Murder weapons used,

by race of victim, 1992-96

Public-order 56.0 60.2

Drug 28.8 14.3

Property 32.8 37.1

Violent 40.6 71.0

All offenses 39.5% 48.8%

American 

Indians

All 

races

Most serious

offense 

Percent of convicted jail

inmate reporting alcohol

use at the time of their

offense

Page 29. Use of alcohol by

convicted jail inmates at the time

of their offense, by offense type

and race, 1996

Asian 98 192

White 182 283

Black 937 1,356

American Indian 291 294

All races 275 445

Under 

age 18

All 

ages

Race of 

arrestees

Number of arrests for Part I

violent crimes per 100,000

persons in each group, 1996

Page 24. Arrests of adults and

youth for violent crimes, by race,

1996

Source: Federal Justice Statistics Program

Wyoming 24

Western Wisconsin 2

Eastern Wisconsin 15

Western Washington 19

Eastern Washington 58

Utah 46

South Dakota 479

Western Pennsylvania 1

Oregon 6

Western Oklahoma 44

Northern Oklahoma 31

Eastern Oklahoma 66

Northern New York 1

Nevada 7

New Mexico 333

Nebraska 21

North Dakota 149

Western North Carolina 21

Montana 115

Minnesota 15

Western Michigan 10

Eastern Michigan 6

Maine 3

Western Louisiana 5

Northern Illinois 1

Idaho 47

Northern Iowa 3

Southern Florida 1

Middle Florida 3

Colorado 21

Southern California 1

Northern California 2

Central California 2

Arizona 355

Northern Alabama 2

Number of suspects

from American

Indian country

U.S. district 

court 

Page 30. Map of Federal district

courts. Investigations by U.S.

attorneys of suspects in Indian

country, fiscal year 1996