The Costs of Crime to Victims

• NCJ Number: 145865
• Date Published: February 1994
• Length: 3 pages
• Author(s): P A Klaus
• Agencies: BJS
• Publication Series: BJS Crime Data Briefs
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

This analysis of crime costs to victims notes that crime victims in 1992 lost $17.6 billion in direct costs, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey.

Abstract

These costs included losses from property theft or damage, cash losses, medical expenses, and the amount of pay lost because of injury or activities related to the crime. The crimes included in this figure are rape, robbery, assault, personal and household theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. Crimes included attempts as well as completed offenses. Economic loss of some kind occurred in 71 percent of all personal crimes, including rape, robbery, assault, and personal theft. For the violent crimes of rape, robbery, and assault, economic loss occurred in 23 percent of victimizations. Household crimes of burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft involved economic loss in 91 percent of all victimizations. A total of 33,649,340 victimizations occurred in 1992. About 12 percent of personal crimes and 24 percent of household crimes involved economic losses of $500 or more. Additional findings, tables, figures, and list of other BJS reports