Question for LEO / those who know....

[G27]

Hey guys, I read an article a while back (which I can longer locate, grr) that referenced an FBI report which said something along the lines of the following:

- 60 % of reported home invasions were perpetrated by armed criminals

- nearly half of all armed home invasions utilized firearms.

First - I can't vouch for the veracity of the numbers as I never saw the FBI report but it did make me think: assuming the numbers above are correct, that would mean only roughly 25% of home invasions were committed using firearms - a number that seems awfully low to me.

But that brings me to my second train of thought / question - what percentage (estimates are fine) of violent crimes are carried out utilizing firearms? I know that in close-quarters a bladed weapon is absolutely devastating, but I guess I've always assumed that in most violent crimes (car-jackings, robberies, etc), firearms were utilized.

Again, estimates and rough guesses are happily accepted - I'd just like to hear from folks who have actively studied criminal behavior or have experience with law enforcement to help me out here.

TIA,

[johnnychimpo]

Try here:

http://www.tennesseecrimeonline.com/tibrspublic2005/View/RSReport.aspx

Beyond 20/20 Perspective - Reports

Thats for TN 2009. Takes a while to compile the info.

Edited February 14, 2011 by johnnychimpo

[Guest Octo]

First link is broken. Second one though...very informative. Thanks!

[Tncobra]

http://www.tbi.tn.gov/tn_crime_stats/documents/CrimeinTN2009.pdf

[G27]

Thanks.

Anyone with empirical evidence wish to share their experiences?

[DaveTN]

The FBI posts all the stats you are looking for. Although they are dependent on how the reporting agency reports the incident.

100% of the home invasions I have responded to or know about involved a firearm. I’m sure there are some where a knife or other weapon was used; that just wasn’t my experience.

Some reported “Home invasions†are really burglaries gone badly; the burglars thought the home owners were gone and came face to face with them. That may explain some of the numbers.

Home invasion and burglary are not the same crime and the perpetrators are the same type of criminals. But sometimes they may not get reported properly.