Violent Victimization Known to Law Enforcement in the Bakken Oil-Producing Region of Montana and North Dakota, 2006-2012

• NCJ Number: 252619
• Author(s): Kimberly Martin; Kelle Barrick; Nicholas J. Richardson; Dan Liao; David Heller
• Date Published: February 2019
• Length: 28 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2017-BJ-CX-K054
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored

Annotation

This Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) funded report compared patterns of violent victimization in the Bakken oil-producing region to those in surrounding counties outside of the Bakken region from 2006 to 2012.

Abstract

The authors of this report compared patterns of violent victimization in the Bakken oil-producing region to those in surrounding counties outside of the Bakken region. This report focuses on trends in violent crime from 2006 to 2012, a period during which regions of Montana and North Dakota that contain parts of the Bakken shale formation experienced relatively rapid growth in oil and gas production, an influx of new residents to work in oil sector-related jobs, and according to reports from the area, a corresponding increase in calls for service to local law enforcement. The information in this report comes from Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)-sponsored analysis of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). From 2006 to 2012, the rate of violent victimization known to law enforcement in the Bakken oil-producing region of Montana and North Dakota increased, particularly the rate of aggravated assault, which increased 70%. There was no similar increase in rates of violent crime in the counties surrounding the Bakken oil region. Rates of male and female violent victimization in the Bakken region increased during this period, with the increase being higher for males (up 31%) than females (up 18%).