NCJ Number
189664
Date Published
2000
Length
118 pages
Annotation
This 1999 California report contains information on the crime of homicide and its victims, demographic data on persons arrested for homicide, and information about the response of the criminal justice system; information on the death penalty, the number of peace officers killed in the line of duty, and justifiable homicide is also included.
Abstract
From 1998 to 1999, homicide crimes decreased 9.2 percent in rate per 100,000 population. From 1990 to 1999, the homicide crime rate decreased 51.2 percent. Since 1990, homicide rates decreased for all gender, race/ethnic, and age groups shown; Blacks experienced the highest rate of decline but continued to maintain substantially higher homicide victimization rates compared to whites and Hispanics. From 1990 to 1999, the majority of homicide victims knew their assailant. Proportionately, females were over 13 times more likely to be killed by their spouses than were males. In 1999, males were most likely to be killed on streets or sidewalks and least likely to be killed in their residence; the inverse was true for females. Since 1990, more homicide victims have been killed by firearms than by all other types of weapons combined. In 1999, 38.7 percent of homicide victims aged 5-29 were killed as a result of gang-related activities. Out of every 100 homicides, 59.8 were cleared by an arrest. Over 70 percent of adults arrested for homicide, for which dispositions were received, were convicted of homicide or some other offense. By the end of 1999, 556 persons were under sentence of death in California. Of these, 42 were sentenced in 1999. Since 1990, 63 peace officers have been feloniously killed in the line of duty; 4 were killed in 1999. Extensive tables and figures