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Arson in New York City - 1983

NCJ Number
98276
Date Published
1985
Length
123 pages
Annotation
Arson incidence in New York in 1983 is presented with details on city, borough, and community district levels.
Abstract
Long-term arson trends indicate that from 1958 to 1967 the incidence of arson increased 100 percent and then doubled again in the next 7 years. Since 1976, arson has been reduced by 57.2 percent overall, and structural arson has been reduced by 62.9 percent. In 1983, arson declined for the third consecutive year with 6,094 recorded arsons, of which 5,557 occurred in buildings, 490 occurred in motor vehicles, and 47 in other property. Two out of every three structural arsons originated in occupied buildings (3,668), with the remaining one-third originating in vacant buildings. Arson injuries and fatalities, as well as arrests, were closely correlated to the relative incidence of arson in each of the boroughs. Thus, Brooklyn ranked first in these categories and Staten Island ranked last. It was found that there was a very high rank-order correlation between arson rates and fire incidence and between arson and the number of occupied residential units. Arson rates were found to be less strongly correlated with population density and the number of vacant buildings in particular districts. It was also found that the most frequent point of origin for an arson fire that causes personal injury is a vacant room or building, while fires set in public hallways cause the most arson fatalities. More than half of those arrested for arson were charged with the most serious type of arson. An outline of 1984 arson data indicates a decline of 8 percent from 1983's total arson rate. Tabular data are included.