The 1999 murder rate was the lowest since 1966

The primary focus of each Crime in the United States report is the estimated number of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies. A large portion of most crimes are never reported to law enforcement. Murder, however, is one crime that is nearly always reported and, therefore, is the crime for which the FBI data are most complete.

There were 15,533 murders reported to law enforcement agencies in 1999, or 5.7 murders for every 100,000 U.S. inhabitants. One would have to go back to 1969 to find a lower annual number of murder victims and to 1966 to find a lower annual murder rate. In the 40-year period from 1960 to 1999, the number of murders in the United States peaked in 1993 (24,530 murders, yielding a murder rate of 9.5), and the murder rate was at its highest level in 1980 (23,040 murders, yielding a murder rate of 10.2).

Eighty-eight percent of murder victims in 1999 (or about 13,700 victims) were 18 years of age or older. The other nearly 1,800 murder victims were under the age of 18. This figure is substantially below that of the peak year of 1993, when almost 2,900 juveniles were murdered. The last year in which fewer than 1,800 juveniles were murdered was 1987.

Of all juveniles murdered in 1999, about 600 (or 33%) were under age 5. Half of these murdered children were female and 56% were white. Almost 1,000 murdered juveniles (or 55%) were ages 13 to 17. Forty-six percent of these murdered teenagers were white and 20% were female.

In 1999, 65% of all murder victims were killed with a firearm. Adults were more likely to be killed with a firearm (68%) than were juveniles (52%). However, the involvement of a firearm depended greatly on the age of the juvenile victim. Whereas 17% of murdered juveniles under age 13 were killed with a firearm in 1999, 81% of murdered juveniles age 13 or older were killed with a firearm. The most common method of murdering children under the age of 5 was by physical assault; in 47% of such murders, the offenders’ only weapons were their hands and/or feet.

Juvenile Arrests 1999	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • December 2000