U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

BJS

Special Report

APRIL 2013 NCJ 241349

The annual average rate of workplace violence 

against local, county, state, and federal 

government employees declined 82% from 1994 

to 2011, compared to a decline of 72% for the privatesector (figure 1). Most of the decline (76%) occurred 

between 1994 and 2002, when the rate of workplace violence 

against government employees dropped from 99.2 violent 

victimizations per 1,000 to 24.2 per 1,000. The rate dropped 

an additional 25.6% from 2002 to 2011. In 2011, the rate of 

workplace violence against government employees was more 

than three times the rate for private-sector employees.

In 1994, the rate of violent victimization in the workplace of 

government employees (99.2 per 1,000) was over five times 

greater than the rate for employees in the private-sector 

(18.5 per 1,000). From 1994 to 2011, the annual average rate 

of workplace violence against government employees was 

at least twice that for private-sector employees. The study 

period ended in 2011 with the rate of workplace violence for 

government employees (18.0 per 1,000) lower than its levels 

of the mid 1990s but was over three times greater than the 

rate for private-sector employees (5.2 per 1,000).

Erika Harrell, Ph.D., BJS Statistician

HIGHLIGHTS

 In 2011, government employees had a rate of workplace 

violence (18.0 per 1,000 employees age 16 or older) that 

was more than three times the rate for private-sector 

employees (5.2 per 1,000). 

 About 56% of government employee workplace violence 

from 2002 to 2011 was attributed to those working in law 

enforcement and security-related occupations.

 From 2002 to 2011, the annual average rate of simple 

assault in the workplace against government employees 

(18.9 per 1,000) was more than three times that of privatesector employees (4.6 per 1,000). 

 In 2011, excluding law enforcement and security 

employees, the rate of workplace violence against 

government employees (8.7 per 1,000) was greater than the 

rate for private-sector employees (4.7 per 1,000).

 Serious violent crime accounted for a larger percentage of 

workplace violence against private-sector employees (25%) 

than government employees (15%). 

 In 2011, about 1 in 5 victims of workplace homicide was a 

government employee.

 From 2002 to 2011, about 96% of workplace violence 

against government employees was against state, county, 

and local employees, who made up 81% of the total 

government workforce.

 Persons working in law enforcement and security 

occupations in government (140.3 per 1,000) and privatesector organizations (102.5 per 1,000) had the highest 

annual average rates of violent victimization occurring in 

the workplace from 2002 to 2011.

 Among government employees, males (68%) were more 

likely than females (38%) to face a stranger during an 

incident of workplace violence. 

 From 2002 to 2011, government employees (12%) were 

less likely than private-sector employees (20%) to face an 

offender with a weapon during an incident of workplace 

violence.

Workplace Violence Against 

Government Employees, 1994-2011

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Private-sector 

Government 

‘11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95'94

Rate per 1,000 employees age 16 or older

Figure 1

Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against government and 

private-sector employees, 1994–2011

Note: Estimates based on 2-year rolling averages centered on the most recent 

year. See appendix table 1 for rates and standard errors.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 2

The higher rates of workplace violence in the government 

were partly due to the high rates of workplace violence 

attributed to law enforcement and security employees 

(figure 2). The rate of workplace violence for law 

enforcement and security employees was a high of 672.3 

per 1,000 in 1994, declining to 109.3 in 2011. These law 

enforcement and security occupations accounted for over 

half of the violence committed against government workers 

and were concentrated most heavily in state, county, and 

local government.

The estimates of nonfatal violent victimization in the 

workplace against government employees are based on data 

from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Crime 

Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information on 

nonfatal crimes against persons age 12 or older, reported and 

not reported to the police, from a nationally representative 

sample of U.S. households. In this report, nonfatal workplace 

violence includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated 

assault (serious violent offenses), and simple assault against 

employed persons age 16 or older that occurred while at 

work or on duty. Information on workplace homicide in 

this report was obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 

(BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) (see 

Methodology). Workplace homicide includes the homicide 

of employed victims age 16 or older who were killed while at 

work or on duty and excludes death by accident.

Trend estimates of nonfatal workplace violence are based on 

2-year rolling averages centered on the most recent year. For 

example, estimates reported for 2011 represent the average 

estimates for 2010 and 2011. For some tables in this report, 

the focus is on the single 10-year aggregate period from 2002 

through 2011. These approaches increase the reliability and 

stability of estimates, which facilitates comparisons over 

time and between subgroups. Trend estimates of workplace 

homicide are based on a single most recent year estimates. 

For example, estimates of workplace homicide for 2011 

represent the estimate for 2011 only. 

The rate of workplace violence against all types of 

government employees fell between 1994 and 2011

From 2002 to 2011, government employees accounted for 16% 

of all employed persons age 16 or older and were victims of 

about 41% of the nonfatal workplace violence (table 1). Most 

(96%) of the workplace violence against government employees 

occurred against persons employed by state, county, and local 

governments (not shown in table). State, county, and local 

government employees accounted for 81% of all government 

employees, and federal employees made up 19%. Federal 

employees experienced 2% of all workplace violence and 4% of 

workplace violence against all government employees.

Among persons in law enforcement and security 

occupations, there was no statistically significant difference 

in the rates of workplace violence against government 

and private-sector employees in 2011. Between 1994 and 

2011, the rate of workplace violence against government 

law enforcement and security employees dropped 84% 

from 672.3 per 1,000 in 1994 to 109.3 per 1,000 in 2011. In 

comparison, the rate of workplace violence against privatesector law enforcement and security employees declined 

52%, from 182.3 per 1,000 in 1994 to 87.5 per 1,000 in 2011.

Table 1

Percent of workplace violence and employed persons, 

by type of employee, 2002–2011

Type of employee Workplace violence All employed persons

Total 100% 100%

Government 41.0% 16.0%

Federal 1.6 3.1

State/county/local 39.4 12.9

Private-sector 58.9% 82.5%

Note: Detail may not sum to 100% due to missing data and rounding. See 

appendix table 2 for standard errors.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.

Figure 2

Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against law enforcement 

and security employees, by type of employee, 1994-2011

Note: Estimates based on 2-year rolling averages centered on the most 

recent year. Definitions of NCVS occupational categories can be found in the 

Methodology. See appendix table 3 for rates and standard errors.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Private-sector

Government

'11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95'94

Rate per 1,000 employees age 16 or older
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 3

Excluding law enforcement and security employees, the rate 

of workplace violence against government employees (8.7 

per 1,000) was higher than that of private-sector employees 

(4.7 per 1,000) in 2011(figure 3). The rate of workplace 

violence against non-law enforcement and security 

government employees dropped 80% from 1994 to 2011, 

compared to a 73% decline for non-law enforcement and 

security private-sector employees.

In 2011, the rate of workplace violence against state, county, 

and local employees (21.6 per 1,000) was more than five 

times the rate of federal employees (3.7 per 1,000) (figure 

4). Between 1994 and 2011, the rate of workplace violence 

against federal employees dropped 78%, from 16.7 per 

1,000 in 1994 to 3.7 per 1,000. In comparison, the rate of 

workplace violence declined 82% for state, county, and local 

employees during the same period, from 122.4 per 1,000 in 

1994 to 21.6 per 1,000 in 2011.

As with the overall rate of violence against government 

workers, the rate of violence against state, local, and city 

government employees was driven in part by the high rates 

associated with law enforcement and security employees.

Among non-law enforcement and security government 

employees, those employed by state, county, and local 

governments had a rate of workplace violence (10.0 per 

1,000) that was more than twice that of federal employees 

(3.6 per 1,000) in 2011. From 1994 to 2011, the rate of 

workplace violence declined 69% for non-law enforcement 

and security federal employees and 82% for non-law 

enforcement and security employees of state, county, and 

local governments. 

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

'11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95'94

State/county/local 

non-law enforcement

and security 

Federal non-law

enforcement and

security

State/county/

local total

Federal total 

Rate per 1,000 employees age 16 or older

Figure 4

Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against all government 

and non-law enforcement and security government 

employees, by type of employee, 1994-2011

Note: Estimates based on 2-year rolling averages centered on the most 

recent year. Definitions of NCVS occupational categories can be found in the 

Methodology. See appendix table 5 for standard errors.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.

Figure 3

Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against non-law 

enforcement and security employees, 1994-2011

Note: Estimates based on 2-year rolling averages centered on the most 

recent year. Definitions of NCVS occupational categories can be found in the 

Methodology. See appendix table 4 for standard errors.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Private-sector 

Government 

'11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95'94

Rate per 1,000 employees age 16 or older
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 4

Except transportation, the rate of workplace violence 

was higher for government employees than privatesector employees for each measured occupation 

From 2002 to 2011, about 56% of workplace violence against 

government employees occurred against persons in law 

enforcement and security occupations (table 2). Persons 

in law enforcement and security-related fields accounted 

for about 9% of all government employees. In comparison, 

persons working in teaching occupations experienced 

about 14% of workplace violence from 2002 to 2011, and 

accounted for about 34% of government employees.

Persons working in law enforcement and security 

occupations had the highest annual average rate of 

workplace violence among government (140.3 per 

1,000) and private-sector employees (102.5 per 1,000). 

No difference was detected in the annual average rate of 

workplace violence against government and private-sector 

employees who worked in transportation occupations. For 

all other occupations measured, the annual average rate of 

workplace violence was higher for government employees 

than private-sector employees. 

Government employees experienced simple assault 

at more than three times the rate of private-sector 

employees 

From 2002 to 2011, the annual average rate of workplace 

violence against government employees (22.3 per 1,000) was 

more than three times the rate for private-sector employees 

(6.2 per 1,000) (table 3). During the same 10-year period, 

the annual average rate of simple assault in the workplace 

against government employees (18.9 per 1,000) was more 

than three times that of private-sector employees (4.6 per 

1,000). Similarly, the rate of serious violence (rape/sexual 

assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) was greater for 

government (3.4 per 1,000) than private-sector employees 

(1.6 per 1,000).

Government employees experienced an annual average 

of about 528,000 nonfatal violent crimes in the workplace 

during the 10-year period from 2002 to 2011, compared to 

an annual average 760,000 against private-sector employees. 

Serious violent crime accounted for a larger percentage of 

workplace violence against private-sector employees (25%) 

than government employees (15%).

Table 2

Rate and percent of workplace violence and percent of employed persons, by occupation and type of employee, 2002–2011

Government Private-sector 

Workplace violence Workplace violence

Occupation*

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Percent

Percent of all 

government employees

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Percent

Percent of all privatesector employees

Total 22.3 100% 100% 6.2 100% 100%

Medical 22.6 6.5 6.5 10.5 14.3 8.5

Mental health 87.1 7.8 2.0 35.6 4.6 0.8

Teaching 9.4 14.1 33.5 2.9 1.2 2.5

Law enforcement and security 140.3 56.1 8.9 102.5 11.5 0.7

Retail sales 36.3 0.7 0.4 10.0 17.1 10.7

Transportation 21.8 3.0 3.1 16.2 8.1 3.1

Other 5.8 11.8 45.6 3.7 43.3 73.7

Note: See appendix table 6 for standard errors. 

*Definitions of NCVS occupational categories can be found in the Methodology. 

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.

Table 3

Rate, percent, and annual average number of workplace violence, by type of crime and type of employee, 2002–2011

Government Private-sector 

Type of crime

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Percent

Annual average 

number

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Percent

Annual average 

number

Total 22.3 100% 528,420 6.2 100% 759,840

Serious violent crime 3.4 15.1% 79,610 1.6 25.4% 193,080

Rape/sexual assault 0.6 2.9 15,200 0.2 3.7 28,180

Robbery 0.1 ! 0.3 ! 1,470 ! 0.2 3.2 24,090

Aggravated assault 2.7 11.9 62,940 1.1 18.5 140,800

Simple assault 18.9 84.9% 448,810 4.6 74.6% 566,760

Note: See appendix table 7 for standard errors.

! Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 5

In 2011, one in every five victims of workplace 

homicide was a government employee

From 1993 to 2002, the number of government employees 

who were victims of workplace homicide declined by 33%, 

from 124 in 1993 to 83 in 2002 (figure 5). For private-sector 

employees, homicide declined 44%, from 944 in 1993 to 

525 in 2002. From 2003 to 2010, government employees 

experienced a 29% increase in the number of homicides, 

from 71 in 2003 to 86 in 2010. During the same period, 

homicide in private-sector employees decreased by 28%, 

from 560 in 2003 to 432 in 2010. In 2011, the private-sector 

experienced 367 homicides compared to 90 homicides for 

government employees.

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

Private-sector 

Government 

'11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95*'94'93

Number of workplace homicides

.

.

Figure 5 

Number of workplace homicides, by type of employee, 

1993–2011

Note: Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Census of Fatal 

Occupational Injuries. BLS declared breaks in series in 2003 and 2011 due to 

changes in injuries classification: the Standard Industrial Classification system was 

used from 1993 to 2002, the North American Industry Classification from 2003 

to 2010, and a revised Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System 2.01 

in 2011. Data from 1993 to 2010 are final; data from 2011 are preliminary. See 

Methodology. Excludes fatalities due to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. 

See appendix table 8 for numbers. 

*Includes homicides as a result of the Oklahoma City bombings, which accounted 

for about 12% of workplace homicides, according to the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfnr0002.txt, retrieved March 5, 2012.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on files provided by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1993–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 6

Male government employees experienced a higher 

rate of the workplace violence than females

For most of the victim characteristics measured, government 

employees had a higher rate of workplace violence than 

private-sector employees. Among government employees, 

males (35.3 per 1,000) had a rate of workplace violence 

that was over twice the rate of females (12.0 per 1,000) 

due primarily to the large percentage of males working 

in law enforcement and security-related government 

occupations (table 4). Persons of two or more races had 

the highest rate of workplace violence among government 

employees. Among government employees, whites were 

more likely than blacks, Hispanics, and Asians to be victims 

of workplace violence. Government employees ages 25 to 34 

had the highest rate of workplace violence (35.8 per 1,000). 

Government employees who were divorced or separated 

had the highest rate of workplace violence (33.5 per 1,000) 

among all marital statuses. Among government employees, 

persons with annual household incomes of $50,000 to 

$74,999 had the highest rate of workplace violence (33.6 per 

1,000) among all income categories. 

Among non-law enforcement and security employees, 

government employees had a higher rate of workplace 

violence (10.8 per 1,000) than private-sector employees (5.6 

per 1,000). No difference was found due to sex in the rates 

of workplace violence against non-law enforcement and 

security employees in the government or the private-sector. 

In both the government and private-sector, American Indian 

and Alaska Natives in non-law enforcement and security 

occupations had a higher rate of workplace violence than 

whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in similar occupations. 

Among government non-law enforcement and security 

employees, persons ages 25 to 64 had similar rates of 

workplace violence (11.7 per 1,000). 

Table 4

Rates of workplace violence, by type of employee and victim characteristics, 2002–2011

Rate of workplace violence per 1,000 age 16 or older

All employees Non-law enforcement and security employees

Victim characteristic Government Private-sector Government Private-sector 

Total 22.3 6.2 10.8 5.6

Sex

Male 35.3 6.7 11.2 5.6

Female 12.0 5.6 10.5 5.6

Race/Hispanic origin

White* 25.0 6.7 12.0 6.0

Black/African American* 10.6 6.4 5.7 5.4

Hispanic 18.3 3.1 9.4 2.8

American Indian/Alaska Native* 42.5 ! 19.1 28.3 ! 18.1

Asian/Pacific Islander* 8.7 ! 4.9 4.3 ! 5.0

Two or more races* 69.7 14.1 14.5 ! 14.3

Age

16–17 -- ! 5.6 -- ! 5.6

18–24 18.5 8.6 6.1 7.6

25–34 35.8 8.0 12.1 6.9

35–49 22.8 5.8 11.4 5.3

50–64 16.3 4.4 11.6 4.2

65 or older 3.7 1.0 3.6 0.9

Marital status

Never married 20.7 8.7 9.9 7.7

Married 20.8 4.2 9.8 3.8

Widowed 16.9 7.3 6.2 7.4

Divorced or separated 33.5 9.0 18.2 8.1

Unknown -- ! 1.3 ! -- ! 1.0 !

Annual household income

Less than $25,000 13.3 7.4 10.3 6.3

$25,000 to $49,999 21.4 6.7 10.2 5.7

$50,000 to $74,999 33.6 7.6 15.5 7.2

$75,000 or more 21.5 5.5 11.2 5.1

Unknown 16.8 4.9 6.1 4.3

Note: See appendix table 9 for standard errors. Definitions of NCVS occupational categories can be found in the Methodology. 

! Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

-- Less than 0.05.

*Excludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 7

Among government and private-sector employees, 

males were more likely than females to be violently 

victimized in the workplace by a stranger 

With few exceptions, the distributions shown in the 

remainder of the report do not vary substantially after 

excluding law enforcement and security occupations or are 

limited by small sample sizes. Therefore, comparisons are 

shown by employment sector totals.

About 68% of workplace violence against male government 

employees was committed by strangers compared to 38% 

for female government employees (table 5). Among privatesector employees, males (60%) also had a higher percentage 

of workplace violence committed by strangers than females 

(42%). Among government and private-sector employees, a 

greater percentage of female victims of workplace violence 

than male victims were attacked by a person with whom 

the victim had a work relationship, such as a customer or 

client, patient, current or former supervisor, current or 

former employee, or current or former coworker. About 

23% of violence committed against female government 

employees involved a work relationship, compared to 7% for 

male government employees. For both males and females, 

a larger percentage of violence was committed by casual 

acquaintances and persons well-known to the victim for 

government employees (between 20% and 33%) compared 

to private-sector employees (between 6% and 8%).

Government employees experienced a lower 

percentage of workplace violence involving a weapon, 

compared to private-sector employees

From 2002 to 2011, a smaller percentage of weapons were 

present in workplace violence against government employees 

(12%) than against private-sector employees (20%) (table 

6). Two percent of workplace violence against government 

employees involved an offender with a firearm, compared to 

6% for private-sector employees.

Table 5

Victim-offender relationship in workplace violence, by type of employee and sex, 2002–2011

Government Private-sector

Victim-offender relationship Male Female Male Female

Total 100% 100% 100% 100%

Intimate partner 0.5% ! 0.2% ! 0.6% ! 4.3%

Other relatives 0.3% ! 0.7% ! 0.6% ! 0.6% !

Well-known/casual acquaintances 20.2% 32.5% 5.9% 8.3%

Work relationships 6.9% 23.1% 28.1% 39.4%

Customer/client 2.2 5.2 6.0 5.8

Patient 2.0 ! 11.1 0.9 ! 11.1

Current/former—

Supervisor 0.2 ! 0.3 ! 1.2 6.6

Employee 0.3 ! 0.5 ! 2.7 1.6

Coworker 2.3 6.0 17.3 14.4

Stranger 67.7% 38.4% 59.7% 41.7%

Unknown 4.4% 5.1% 5.2% 5.7%

Note: See appendix table 10 for standard errors.

! Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.

 

Table 6

Offender weapon possession in workplace violence, by type 

of weapon and type of employee, 2002–2011

Weapon type Government Private-sector

Total 100% 100%

No weapon 83.7% 75.3%

Weapon 11.5% 20.3%

Firearm 2.4 6.0

Knife 4.4 4.7

Other 4.2 8.3

Unknown 0.5 ! 1.2

Did not know if offender had weapon 4.8% 4.4%

Note: See appendix table 11 for standard errors.

! Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or 

coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 8

From 2002 to 2011, a similar percentage of government 

and private-sector victims were injured in workplace 

violence. No difference was observed in the percentages of 

government and private-sector employees (about 1 to 2%) 

who suffered a serious injury (such as gunshot wounds, knife 

wounds, internal injuries, unconsciousness, broken bones, 

and other injuries that required hospitalization for more 

than 2 days) as a result of workplace violence (table 7).

The percentage of workplace violence against 

government employees that was reported to police 

declined from 1994 to 2011

From 1994 to 2011 (with the exception of 1999, 2003, and 

2011), a greater percentage of workplace violence against 

government employees than that against private-sector 

employees was reported to the police. The percentage of 

workplace violence against government employees that 

was reported to police declined from 54% in 1994 to 35% 

in 2011 (figure 4). The percentage of workplace violence 

against private-sector employees reported to police fluctuated 

between 1994 and 2011. No difference was detected in the 

percentage of workplace violence against private-sector 

employees reported to police in 1994 and 2011.

The most common reason why workplace violence was 

not reported to police by a government employee was that 

the incident was reported to another official (60%) (table 

8). Government employees were more likely to report an 

incidence of workplace violence to another official than 

private-sector employees (30%). Government employees 

(13%) were less likely than private-sector employees (22%) 

to state that they did not report workplace violence to 

police because it was not important enough to the victim. 

0

20

40

60

80

Private-sector 

Government 

'11'10'09'08'07'06'05'04'03'02'01'00'99'98'97'96'95'94

Percent reported to police

Figure 6

Percent of workplace violence reported to police, by type of 

employee, 1994–2011

Note: Estimates based on 2-year rolling averages centered on the most recent 

year. See appendix table 13 for percentages and standard errors.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.

Table 7

Injury in workplace violence, by type of employee, 

2002–2011

Injury Government Private-sector 

Total 100% 100%

Not injured 86.6% 88.3%

Injured 13.4% 11.7%

Seriousa 1.4 2.1

Minorb 11.4 9.1

Unknownc 0.7% ! 0.5% !

Note: See appendix table 12 for standard errors.

aIncludes gunshot wounds, knife wounds, internal injuries, unconsciousness, 

broken bones, and undetermined injuries that required hospitalization for more 

than 2 days and rape without other injuries.

bIncludes bruises, cuts, and other undetermined injuries that required 

hospitalization for less than 2 days.

cIncludes unknown injury types.

! Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or 

coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.

Table 8

Reasons for not reporting workplace violence to police, by 

type of employee, 2002–2011

Reason not reported to police Government Private-sector 

Reported to another official 60.0% 29.9%

Private or personal matter 14.9 20.0

Not important enough to reporta 12.7 22.0

Insurance would not cover -- ! 0.1 !

Police could not do anythingb 0.9 ! 2.1

Police would not helpc 2.8 ! 16.0

Other reasond 24.2 35.8

Unknown -- ! 0.3 !

Note: Percentages sum to more than 100% because the respondent may report 

more than one reason. See appendix table 14 for standard errors.

 Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or 

coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

-- Less than 0.05%.

aIncludes minor crime, child offender, and not clear it was a crime.

bIncludes did not find out until too late, could not recover or identify property, 

and could not find or lack of proof.

cIncludes police would not think it was important enough, police would be 

inefficient, police would be biased, and offender was a police officer.

dIncludes did not want to get offender in trouble, was advised not to report to 

police, afraid of reprisal, and too inconvenient.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 9

Methodology

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is an 

annual data collection conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau 

for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The NCVS is a selfreport survey in which interviewed persons are asked about 

the number and characteristics of victimizations experienced 

during the prior 6 months. The NCVS collects information 

on nonfatal personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, 

aggravated assault, simple assault, and personal larceny) and 

household property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, 

and other theft) both reported and not reported to police. 

In addition to providing annual level and change estimates 

on criminal victimization, the NCVS is the primary source 

of information on the nature of criminal victimization 

incidents. Survey respondents provide information about 

themselves (such as age, sex, race and ethnicity, marital 

status, education level, and income) and if they experienced 

a victimization. For crime victims, data are collected about 

each victimization incident, including information about the 

offender (such as age, race and ethnicity, sex, and victimoffender relationship), characteristics of the crime (including 

time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of 

injury, and economic consequences), whether the crime was 

reported to police, reasons why the crime was or was not 

reported, and experiences with the law enforcement and 

security system.

The NCVS is administered to persons age 12 or older from a 

nationally representative sample of households in the United 

States. In 2011, about 143,120 persons age 12 or older from 

79,800 households across the country were interviewed 

during the year. Once selected, households remain in the 

sample for 3 years, and eligible persons in these households 

are interviewed every 6 months for a total of seven 

interviews. New households rotate into the sample on an 

ongoing basis to replace outgoing households that have been 

in sample for the 3-year period. The sample includes persons 

living in group quarters (such as dormitories, rooming 

houses, and religious group dwellings) and excludes persons 

living in military barracks and institutional settings (such 

as correctional or hospital facilities) and the homeless. (For 

more information, see the Survey Methodology for Criminal 

Victimization in the United States, 2008, BJS website, NCJ 

231173, May 2011.)

The 79,800 households that participated in the NCVS in 

2011 represent a 90% household response rate. The person 

level response rate—the percentage of persons age 12 or 

older in participating households who completed an NCVS 

interview—was 88% in 2011. 

All victimizations that occurred outside of the U.S. were 

excluded. From 1993 to 2011, less than 1% of the unweighted 

violent victimizations occurred outside of the U.S. and was 

excluded from the analyses.

Occupational categories in the NCVS

The NCVS began using the occupational categories 

displayed in this report after the 1992 redesign. In 2001, 

the employment questions were revised on the incidents 

form using the Industry and Occupation coding of the 1990 

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) coding system. 

However, the screening questionnaire remained the same. In 

order to generate rates of workplace violence by occupation, 

the occupation categories on the incident form were 

collapsed into occupation categories used on the screening 

questionnaire. Population estimates were generated from 

the screening questionnaire and incidents of workplace 

violence were generated using the collapsed categories from 

the incident form. The percentages of workplace violence 

presented in appendix table 15 were derived using the data 

on the incident form only. The other occupation group 

accounted for 12% of government workplace violence and 

43% of private-sector workplace violence.*

Use of the NCVS to generate estimates of government 

employees

For this report, BJS calculated rates of violent victimization 

in the workplace against government employees using 

information from the screening questionnaire of the NCVS. 

To determine the validity of the employment information 

gathered from the NCVS, BJS compared NCVS estimates 

of the age, sex, and racial distributions of government 

employees with those in the American Community Survey 

(ACS). No systematic differences were detected between the 

estimates from the two surveys, and as a result, the NCVS 

data were used to estimate all government employees.

Weighting adjustments for estimating personal 

victimization

Estimates in this report use data primarily from the 1993 to 

2011 NCVS data files weighted to produce annual estimates 

for persons age 12 or older living in U.S. households. 

Because the NCVS relies on a sample rather than a census 

of the entire U.S. population, weights are designed to inflate 

sample point estimates to known population totals and to 

compensate for survey nonresponse and other aspects of the 

sample design.

The NCVS data files include both household and person 

weights. The household weight is commonly used to 

calculate estimates of property crimes, such as motor vehicle 

theft or burglary, which are identified with the household. 

Person weights provide an estimate of the population 

represented by each person in the sample. Person weights are 

most frequently used to compute estimates of crime 

*The NCVS classifies a limited number of occupations for all persons 

interviewed, but a more detailed set for those who experience a crime. The 

distribution of crime by occupational group is shown in appendix table 15. 
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 10

victimizations of persons in the total population. Both 

household and person weights, after proper adjustment, are 

also used to form the denominator in calculations of crime 

rates.

The victimization weights used in this analysis account 

for the number of persons present during an incident and 

for repeat victims of series incidents. The weight counts 

series incidents as the actual number of incidents reported 

by the victim, up to a maximum of ten incidents. Series 

victimizations are victimizations that are similar in type but 

occur with such frequency that a victim is unable to recall 

each individual event or to describe each event in detail. 

Survey procedures allow NCVS interviewers to identify and 

classify these similar victimizations as series victimizations 

and collect detailed information on only the most recent 

incident in the series. In 2011, about 3% of all victimizations 

were series incidents.

Weighting series incidents as the number of incidents up 

to a maximum of ten produces more reliable estimates of 

crime levels, while the cap at ten minimizes the effect of 

extreme outliers on the rates. Additional information on 

the series enumeration is detailed in Methods for Counting 

High Frequency Repeat Victimizations in the National Crime 

Victimization Survey, BJS website, NCJ 237308, April 2012. 

Standard error computations 

When national estimates are derived from a sample, as is the 

case with the NCVS, caution must be taken when comparing 

one estimate to another or comparing estimates over time. 

Although one estimate may be larger than another, estimates 

based on a sample have some degree of sampling error. The 

sampling error of an estimate depends on several factors, 

including the amount of variation in the responses, the size 

of the sample, and the size of the subgroup for which the 

estimate is computed. When the sampling error around 

the estimates is taken into consideration, the estimates that 

appear different may, in fact, not be statistically different. 

One measure of the sampling error associated with an 

estimate is the standard error. The standard error can vary 

from one estimate to the next. In general, for a given metric, 

an estimate with a smaller standard error provides a more 

reliable approximation of the true value than an estimate 

with a larger standard error. Estimates with relatively large 

standard errors are associated with less precision and 

reliability and should be interpreted with caution. 

In order to generate standard errors around estimates 

from the NCVS, the Census Bureau produces generalized 

variance function (GVF) parameters for BJS. The GVFs take 

into account aspects of the NCVS complex sample design 

and represent the curve fitted to a selection of individual 

standard errors based on the Jackknife Repeated Replication 

technique. The GVF parameters were used to generate 

standard errors for each point estimate (such as counts, 

percentages, and rates) in the report. For annual average 

estimates, standard errors were based on the ratio of the 

sums of victimizations and respondents across years. 

In this report, BJS conducted tests to determine whether 

differences in estimated numbers and percentages were 

statistically significant once sampling error was taken into 

account. Using statistical programs developed specifically 

for the NCVS, all comparisons in the text were tested for 

significance. The primary test procedure used was Student’s 

t-statistic, which tests the difference between two sample 

estimates. To ensure that the observed differences between 

estimates were larger than might be expected due to 

sampling variation, the significance level was set at the 95% 

confidence level. 

Data users can use the estimates and the standard errors of 

the estimates provided in this report to generate a confidence 

interval around the estimate as a measure of the margin of 

error. The following example illustrates how standard errors 

can be used to generate confidence intervals: 

According to the NCVS, from 2002 to 2011, 11.5% 

of violent victimizations in the workplace against 

government employees involved an offender with a 

weapon (see table 6). Using the GVFs, BJS determined 

that the estimate has a standard error of 0.8% (see 

appendix table 11). A confidence interval around the 

estimate was generated by multiplying the standard 

errors by ±1.96 (the t-score of a normal, two-tailed 

distribution that excludes 2.5% at either end of the 

distribution). Therefore, the confidence interval around 

the 11.5% estimate from 2002 to 2011 is 11.5% ± 0.8% 

X 1.96 (or 9.93% to 13.07%). In other words, if different 

samples using the same procedures were taken from the 

U.S. population in from 2002 to 2011, 95% of the time 

the percentage of violent victimization in workplace 

against government employees involving an offender 

with a weapon would fall between 9.93% and 13.07%.

In this report, BJS also calculated a coefficient of variation 

(CV) for all estimates, representing the ratio of the standard 

error to the estimate. CVs provide a measure of reliability 

and a means to compare the precision of estimates across 

measures with differing levels or metrics. If the CV was 

greater than 50%, or the unweighted sample had 10 or fewer 

cases, the estimate would have been noted with a “!” symbol 

(interpret data with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer 

sample cases, or the coefficient of variation exceeds 50%). 

Many of the variables examined in this report may be related 

to one another and to other variables not included in the 

analyses. Complex relationships among variables were not 

fully explored in this report and warrant more extensive 

analysis. Readers are cautioned not to draw causal inferences 

based on the results presented. 
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 11

Methodological changes to the NCVS in 2006 

Methodological changes implemented in 2006 may have 

affected the crime estimates for that year to such an extent 

that they are not comparable to estimates from other years. 

Evaluation of 2007 and later data from the NCVS conducted 

by BJS and the Census Bureau found a high degree of 

confidence that estimates for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 are 

consistent with and comparable to estimates for 2005 and 

previous years. The reports are—

Criminal Victimization, 2006, NCJ 219413, December 2007; 

Criminal Victimization, 2007, NCJ 224390, December 2008; 

Criminal Victimization, 2008, NCJ 227777, September 2009; 

Criminal Victimization, 2009, NCJ 231327, October 2010; 

Criminal Victimization, 2010, NCJ 235508, September 

2011, are available on the BJS website. Although caution is 

warranted when comparing data from 2006 to other years, 

the aggregation of multiple years of data in this report 

diminishes the potential variation between 2006 and other 

years. In general, findings do not change significantly if the 

year 2006 is excluded from the analyses.

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

Data on workplace homicide were obtained from the 

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) collected 

by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). CFOI produces 

comprehensive, accurate, and timely counts of fatal work 

injuries. CFOI is a federal-state cooperative program that 

has been implemented in all 50 states and the District of 

Columbia since 1992. Data from 1993 to 2010 are based 

on final data from the CFOI. Data from 2003 to 2010 is 

not comparable with data from previous years, due to 

BLS’s decision to start using the North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) to define industries. 

Prior to 2003, the program used the Standard Industrial 

Classification (SIC) system. Because of the substantial 

differences between NAICS and SIC, the results by industry 

beginning in 2003 constitute a break in series. Readers are 

advised against comparing data from 2003 to 2010 to data 

from 1993 to 2002. For 2003 to 2008 data, the IIF program 

used the 2002 NAICS to classify industry. Since 2009, the IIF 

program has used the 2007 NAICS. (For more information 

on NAICS, see http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.) Data for 

2011 are not comparable with data from previous years, 

due to BLS’s major revision to the Occupational Injury and 

Illness Classification System (OIICS). The revised OIICS 

structure (OIICS 2.01) was used beginning with reference 

year 2011 for both the CFOI and the Survey of Occupational 

Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) programs. Because of the 

extensive revisions, data for the OIICS case characteristics 

for reference year 2011 represent a break in series with data 

for prior years. (For more information, see http://www.bls.

gov/iif/osh_notice11.htm.)

To compile counts that are as complete as possible, the 

CFOI uses multiple sources to identify, verify, and profile 

fatal worker injuries annually. Information about each fatal 

injury from all workplaces—occupation and other worker 

characteristics, equipment involved, and circumstances 

of the event—is obtained by cross referencing the source 

records, such as death certificates, workers’ compensation 

reports, and federal and state agency administrative 

reports. To ensure that fatal injuries are work-related, 

cases are substantiated with two or more independent 

source documents, or a source document and a follow-up 

questionnaire. Data compiled by the CFOI program are 

issued annually for the preceding calendar year. The National 

Safety Council has adopted the CFOI estimates, beginning 

with 1992, as the authoritative count for work-related deaths 

in the United States. More information about CFOI can be 

found here: http//www.bls.gov/iif/oshfat1.htm.

Definition of terms

Government employees—Persons who work for federal, 

state, county, and local governments.

Private-sector employees—Persons who work for a private 

company, business, or an individual for wages, and persons 

who are self-employed. 

Workplace—Place where an employed person is working or 

on duty.

Workplace violence—Nonfatal violent crime (rape and 

sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assaults, and simple 

assault) against employed persons age 16 or older that 

occurred while they were at work or on duty.

Workplace homicide—Homicide of employed victims 

age 16 or older who were killed while at work or on duty. 

Excludes death by accident.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime 

Victimization Survey; and Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census 

of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Occupational categories used in the NCVS

Medical—physician, nurse, technician, and other medical 

occupations.

Mental health services—professional (social worker/

psychiatrist), custodial care, and other mental health services 

occupations. 

Teaching—preschool, elementary school, junior high or 

middle school, high school, college or university, technical 

or industrial school, special education facility, and other 

teaching occupations. 

Law enforcement and security—law enforcement 

officer, prison or jail guard, security guard, and other law 

enforcement occupations.

Retail sales—convenience or liquor store clerk, gas station 

attendant, bartender, and other retail sales occupations.

Transportation field—bus driver, taxi cab driver, and other 

transportation occupations.

Other occupations—all other not elsewhere listed.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 12

Appendix table 1

Rates and standard errors for figure 1: Rate of nonfatal 

workplace violence against government and private-sector 

employees, 1994–2011

Government Private-sector

Year

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Standard error

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Standard error

1994 99.2 3.9 18.5 0.8

1995 83.7 3.1 18.3 0.7

1996 69.4 2.8 18.5 0.7

1997 67.9 3.0 16.2 0.7

1998 56.5 2.9 15.0 0.7

1999 42.1 2.6 13.4 0.7

2000 37.1 2.4 11.2 0.6

2001 28.5 2.0 9.7 0.5

2002 24.2 1.7 7.1 0.4

2003 27.2 1.8 7.2 0.4

2004 27.1 1.9 7.1 0.4

2005 26.0 1.9 6.9 0.5

2006 26.4 2.0 7.3 0.5

2007 25.6 1.9 6.6 0.4

2008 19.2 1.6 5.9 0.4

2009 14.7 1.4 5.1 0.4

2010 13.6 1.4 5.2 0.4

2011 18.0 1.4 5.2 0.4

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.

Appendix table 2

Standard errors for table 1: Percent of workplace violence 

and employed persons, by type of employee, 2002–2011

Type of employee Workplace violence All employed persons

Government 0.9% 0.1%

Federal 0.2 0.0

State/county/local 0.9 0.1

Private-sector 0.9% 0.1%

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.

Appendix table 3

Rates and standard errors for figure 2: Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against law enforcement and security employees, 

by type of employee, 1994–2011 

Government law enforcement and security Private-sector law enforcement and security

Year Rate per 1,000 age 16 or older Standard error Rate per 1,000 age 16 or older Standard error

1994 672.3 18.7 182.3 19.7

1995 587.3 17.3 192.7 17.8

1996 505.7 17.0 199.2 17.8

1997 483.6 18.6 175.7 18.6

1998 423.6 19.5 259.7 23.1

1999 249.2 17.1 219.1 22.8

2000 245.5 17.1 194.7 21.8

2001 234.5 16.4 204.2 22.1

2002 154.7 12.9 108.7 16.0

2003 167.7 13.3 114.5 16.2

2004 181.2 14.3 119.4 17.1

2005 173.7 15.2 127.5 18.3

2006 173.0 14.6 121.9 17.9

2007 153.0 13.1 118.6 17.9

2008 115.5 11.4 101.0 16.6

2009 105.8 11.5 59.4 13.7

2010 93.1 11.0 89.8 16.7

2011 109.3 10.0 87.5 14.0

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 13

Appendix table 4

Rates and standard errors for figure 3: Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against non-law enforcement and security 

employees, by type of employee, 1994–2011 

Government non-law enforcement and security Private-sector non-law enforcement and security

Year Rate per 1,000 age 16 or older Standard error Rate per 1,000 age 16 or older Standard error

1994 43.9 2.6 17.1 0.8

1995 36.8 2.1 16.9 0.7

1996 28.7 1.8 17.1 0.6

1997 29.3 1.9 15.0 0.6

1998 23.1 1.8 13.2 0.7

1999 23.1 1.9 11.7 0.6

2000 18.6 1.7 9.5 0.6

2001 10.3 1.2 8.4 0.5

2002 12.4 1.2 6.5 0.4

2003 14.6 1.3 6.4 0.4

2004 13.4 1.3 6.3 0.4

2005 13.0 1.4 6.0 0.4

2006 12.4 1.3 6.5 0.4

2007 12.2 1.3 5.9 0.4

2008 9.3 1.1 5.3 0.4

2009 5.4 0.9 4.8 0.4

2010 5.4 0.9 4.7 0.4

2011 8.7 1.0 4.7 0.3

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–2011.

Appendix table 5 

Rates and standard errors for figure 4: Rate of nonfatal workplace violence against all government employees and non-law 

enforcement and security employees, by type of employee, 1994–2011

All government employees Non-law enforcement and security employees

Federal State/county/local Federal State/county/local

Year

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Standard error

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older

Standard 

error

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Standard error

Rate per 1,000 

age 16 or older Standard error

1994 16.7 2.9 122.4 4.9 11.3 2.4 54.4 3.3

1995 19.0 2.7 102.1 3.9 13.0 2.3 45.0 2.6

1996 17.5 2.5 83.6 3.4 11.6 2.1 34.8 2.2

1997 18.9 3.0 80.6 3.6 9.2 2.1 35.8 2.4

1998 23.5 3.5 64.9 3.4 11.9 2.5 26.4 2.2

1999 16.6 3.0 48.3 3.0 11.4 2.5 26.4 2.2

2000 13.1 2.7 43.0 2.8 7.1 2.0 21.8 2.0

2001 16.2 2.9 31.4 2.3 5.6 1.7 11.7 1.4

2002 9.4 2.1 27.6 2.0 4.1 1.4 14.5 1.5

2003 5.5 1.6 32.4 2.2 3.8 1.3 17.2 1.6

2004 5.5 1.6 32.2 2.2 3.6 1.4 15.7 1.6

2005 4.0 1.5 31.0 2.3 3.3 1.4 15.2 1.6

2006 7.0 2.0 30.9 2.3 3.9 1.6 14.3 1.6

2007 7.8 2.1 29.8 2.3 5.4 1.8 13.8 1.6

2008 3.8 1.4 22.8 1.9 4.2 1.5 10.5 1.3

2009 1.6 0.9 17.9 1.8 1.8 1.0 6.3 1.0

2010 3.1 1.3 16.2 1.7 3.0 1.3 6.1 1.0

2011 3.7 1.2 21.6 1.7 3.6 1.2 10.0 1.2

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 1993–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 14

Appendix table 6

Standard errors for table 2: Rate and percent of workplace violence and percent of employed persons, by occupation and type 

of employee, 2002–2011

Government Private-sector 

Workplace violence Workplace violence

Occupation

Rate per 1,000 age 

16 or older Percent

Percent of all government 

employees

Rate per 1,000 age 

16 or older Percent

Percent of all privatesector employees

Total 0.7 --% --% 0.2 --% --%

Medical 2.3 0.6 0.1 0.6 0.8 0.1

Mental health 7.8 0.7 0.1 3.6 0.5 --

Teaching 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.6 0.2 --

Law enforcement and 

security 4.9 1.4 0.1 6.4 0.7 --

Retail sales 11.0 0.2 -- 0.6 0.8 0.1

Transportation 3.2 0.4 0.1 1.3 0.6 --

Other 0.5 0.9 0.3 0.1 1.2 0.2

-- Less than 0.05%.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.

Appendix table 7

Standard errors for table 3: Rate, percent, and annual average number of workplace violence, by type of crime and type of 

employee, 2002–2011

Government Private-sector 

Type of crime

Rate per 1,000 age 

16 or older Percent

Annual average 

number

Rate per 1,000 age 

16 or older Percent

Annual average 

number

Total 0.7 --% 44,763 0.2 --% 54,523

Serious violent crime 0.2 1.0% 16,488 0.1 1.0% 26,178

Rape/sexual assault 0.1 0.3 4,728 -- 0.3 6,475

Robbery -- 0.1 2,004 -- 0.3 8,251

Aggravated assault 0.2 0.8 14,389 0.1 0.9 21,858

Simple assault 0.6 1.1% 43,424 0.1 1.1% 49,247

-- Less than 0.05% or less than 0.05.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.

Appendix table 8

Numbers for figure 5: Number of workplace homicides, 

by type of employee, 1993–2011

Year Government Private-sector 

1993 124 944

1994 104 975

1995 212 819

1996 100 825

1997 88 770

1998 94 615

1999 66 580

2000 78 596

2001 89 554

2002 83 525

2003 71 560

2004 70 489

2005 86 480

2006 79 461

2007 86 542

2008 73 450

2009 80 461

2010 86 432

2011 90 367

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on files provided by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1993–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 15

Appendix table 9

Standard errors for table 4: Rate of workplace violence, by type of employee and victim characteristics, 2002–2011

Rate of workplace violence per 1,000 age 16 or older

All employees Non-law enforcement and security employees

Victim characteristic Government Private-sector Government Private-sector 

Total 0.7 0.2 0.5 0.2

Sex

Male 1.2 0.2 0.7 0.2

Female 0.6 0.2 0.6 0.2

Race/Hispanic origin

White 0.8 0.2 0.6 0.2

Black/African American 1.1 0.4 0.8 0.4

Hispanic 1.8 0.3 1.3 0.2

American Indian/Alaska Native 9.0 3.6 7.5 3.5

Asian/Pacific Islander 1.9 0.6 1.3 0.6

Two or more races 11.2 2.3 5.5 2.4

Age

16-17 -- 0.9 -- 0.9

18-24 1.8 0.5 1.0 0.4

25-34 1.7 0.4 1.0 0.3

35-49 1.0 0.2 0.8 0.2

50-64 0.9 0.3 0.8 0.2

65 or older 1.2 0.3 1.2 0.3

Marital status

Never married 1.2 0.3 0.9 0.3

Married 0.8 0.2 0.5 0.2

Widowed 3.3 1.1 2.0 1.1

Divorced or separated 2.0 0.5 1.5 0.5

Unknown -- 0.8 -- 0.7

Annual household income

Less than $25,000 1.5 0.4 1.4 0.4

$25,000 to $49,999 1.3 0.3 0.9 0.3

$50,000 to $74,999 1.7 0.4 1.2 0.4

$75,000 or more 1.1 0.3 0.8 0.3

Unknown 1.2 0.3 0.7 0.3

--Less than 0.05.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 16

Appendix table 10

Standard errors for table 5: Victim-offender relationship in workplace violence, by type of employee and sex, 2002–2011

Government Private-sector 

Victim-offender relationship Male Female Male Female

Intimate partner 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.7%

Other relatives 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.3

Well-known/casual acquaintances 1.3 2.2 0.7 1.0

Work relationships 0.8 2.0 1.3 1.8

Customer/client 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.8

Patient 0.4 1.5 0.3 1.1

Current/former—

Supervisoer 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.9

Employee 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.4

Coworker 0.5 1.1 1.1 1.2

Stranger 1.6% 2.3% 1.5% 1.8%

Unknown 0.6% 1.0% 0.6% 0.8%

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.

Appendix table 11

Standard errors for table 6: Offender weapon possession 

in workplace violence, by type of weapon and type of 

employee, 2002–2011

Weapon type Government Private-sector

No weapon 1.0% 1.0%

Weapon 0.8% 0.9%

Firearm 0.4 0.5

Knife 0.5 0.5

Other 0.5 0.6

Unknown 0.2 0.2

Did not know if offender had weapon 0.6% 0.4%

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.

Appendix table 12

Standard errors for table 7: Injury in workplace violence, by 

type of employee, 2002–2011

Injury Government Private-sector

Not injured 1.0% 0.8%

Injured 0.9% 0.7%

Serious 0.3 0.3

Minor 0.8 0.6

Unknown 0.2% 0.1%

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.

Appendix table 13

Percentages and standard errors for figure 6: Percent of 

workplace violence reported to police, by type of employee, 

1994–2011

Government Private-sector 

Year Percent Standard error Percent Standard error

1994 53.6% 1.9% 44.4% 1.9%

1995 57.0 1.7 40.8 1.6

1996 61.0 1.8 37.2 1.5

1997 61.2 2.0 34.5 1.7

1998 60.0 2.3 40.6 1.9

1999 50.5 2.7 45.1 2.2

2000 52.9 2.9 44.6 2.3

2001 64.2 3.0 46.9 2.4

2002 58.8 3.2 44.8 2.6

2003 52.6 3.0 47.4 2.6

2004 56.7 3.1 48.7 2.7

2005 53.3 3.5 36.3 2.8

2006 48.5 3.4 38.5 2.8

2007 59.8 3.4 42.7 2.9

2008 56.9 3.8 35.1 2.9

2009 36.2 4.3 27.2 3.0

2010 45.8 4.7 29.6 3.2

2011 34.6 3.3 40.9 2.9

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

1993–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 17

Appendix table 14

Standard errors for table 8: Reasons for not reporting 

workplace violence to police, by type of employee, 

2002–2011

Reason not reported to police Government Private-sector

Reported to another official 1.9% 1.3%

Private or personal matter 1.3 1.2

Not important enough to report 1.3 1.2

Insurance would not cover -- 0.1

Police could not do anything 0.3 0.4

Police would not help 0.6 1.1

Other reason 1.6 1.4

Unknown -- 0.1

--Less than 0.05%.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 

2002–2011.

Appendix table 15 

Percent of workplace violence by occupation with extension of other category, by type of employee, 2002–2011

Occupation Government Private-sector 

Total 100% 100%

Medical 6.5% 14.3%

Mental health 7.8% 4.6%

Teaching 14.1% 1.2%

Law enforcement and security 56.1% 11.5%

Retail sales 0.7% 17.1%

Transportation 3.0% 8.1%

Other 11.8% 43.3%

Management 2.9 9.6

Business and financial operations 0.6 2.7

Computer and mathematical 0.2 ! 0.4 !

Architecture and engineering --! 0.2 !

Life, physical, and social science 0.6 ! 0.2 !

Legal 0.8 ! 0.1 !

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media 0.2 ! 1.1

Food preparation and serving 0.3 ! 7.3

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 0.2 ! 3.6

Personal care and service 1.2 2.0

Office and administrative support 3.3 7.0

Farming, fishing, and forestry -- ! 0.2 !

Construction and extraction 0.6 2.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair 0.4 ! 1.9

Production 0.1 ! 4.2

Other remaining occupations 0.4 ! 0.3 !

Note: Definitions of NCVS occupational categories can be found in the Methodology. See appendix table 16 for standard errors.

! Interpret with caution; estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases, or coefficient of variation is greater than 50%.

--Less than 0.05 %.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, 1994-2011 | APRIL 2013 18

Appendix table 16 

Standard errors for appendix table 15: Percent of workplace violence by occupation with extension of other category, by type 

of employee, 2002-2011

Occupation Government Private-sector 

Medical 0.6% 0.8%

Mental health 0.7% 0.5%

Teaching 0.9% 0.2%

Law enforcement and security 1.4% 0.7%

Retail sales 0.2% 0.8%

Transportation 0.4% 0.6%

Other 0.9% 1.2%

Management 0.4% 0.7%

Business and financial operations 0.2 0.4

Computer and mathematical 0.1 0.1

Architecture and engineering -- 0.1

Life, physical, and social science 0.2 0.1

Legal 0.2 0.1

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media 0.1 0.2

Food preparation and serving 0.1 0.6

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 0.1 0.4

Personal care and service 0.3 0.3

Office and administrative support 0.5 0.6

Farming, fishing, and forestry -- 0.1

Construction and extraction 0.2 0.3

Installation, maintenance, and repair 0.2 0.3

Production 0.1 0.4

Other remaining occupations 0.2 0.1

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2002–2011.
Office of Justice Programs

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.usdoj.gov

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistics agency of the U.S. Department of 

Justice. William J. Sabol is acting director.

This report was written by Erika Harrell. Lynn Langton and Shannan Catalano 

verified the report.

Jill Thomas edited the report, and Tina Dorsey produced the report under the 

supervision of Doris J. James.

April 2013, NCJ 241349