Alcohol and Crime
An Analysis of National Data on the Prevalence of Alcohol
Involvement in Crime
Prepared for the Assistant Attorney General's
National Symposium on Alcohol Abuse and Crime
NCJ-168632 April 5-7, 1998
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, D.C.
Revised 04/28/98 th
By Lawrence A. Greenfeld
Statistician
This report was written by Lawrence A. Greenfeld, deputy
director, Bureau of Justice Statistics. David Levin provided
substantial assistance in the preparation and analysis of FARS
data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; he
also verified the report's findings. Laura Maruschak provided
assistance in the analysis of the 1996 Survey of Inmates in
Local Jails. Cheryl Ringel verified the findings from the
National Crime Victimization Survey. Tom Hester, Priscilla
Middleton, Rhonda Keith, and Jayne Robinson designed and
produced the report. Maureen Henneberg and Yvonne Boston
reviewed the report. Marilyn Marbrook, assisted by Ms. Boston,
prepared the report for printing.
Data analyzed for this report can be obtained from the National
Archive of Criminal Justice Data 1-800-999-0690. Related
reports, spreadsheets, graphs, and information, as well as the
archive itself, can be accessed at the BJS Internet site:
http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Foreword
The extensive and far-reaching impacts of alcohol abuse on crime
and public safety are only now achieving widespread public
policy attention. This report was prepared to provide
statistical information as background for the Assistant Attorney
General's 1998 National Symposium on Alcohol Abuse and Crime,
which will address many of these policy issues and discuss
approaches that may help alleviate these problems.
Based on this compilation and new analysis of data on alcohol
and crime, we know that nearly 4 in 10 violent victimizations
involve use of alcohol, about 4 in 10 fatal motor vehicle
accidents are alcohol-involved; and about 4 in 10 offenders,
regardless of whether they are on probation, in local jail, or
in State prison, self-report that they were using alcohol at the
time of the offense.
There are, however, a number of positive indicators that
alcohol-related crime is generally decreasing and that most of
those in need of treatment are receiving it. Violence between
current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends is
especially likely to involve alcohol abuse, and all forms of
violence against intimates, including homicide, have been
declining in recent years. In addition, rates of arrest for DUI
have declined by 24% since 1990. During the last 10 years, the
number of highway fatalities attributable to alcohol-related
accidents has dropped by about 7,000 annually, a 29% decrease.
This report uses a wide variety of sources, including
statistical series maintained by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Bureau
of Transportation Statistics. We are grateful for the
cooperation of these agencies and also want to thank the many
respondents to our surveys throughout the country.
We anticipate that more on the issue of alcohol and crime will
be available in the near future as new data collections by BJS,
including the 1997 Survey of Inmates of State and Federal
Correctional Facilities, are analyzed. BJS has incorporated new
questions into its surveys which will enable a more in-depth
understanding of the alcohol use and abuse backgrounds of
offenders and the nature of the treatment they receive while
incarcerated.
Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D.
Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Laurie Robinson
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Justice Programs
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Highlights
This report provides the most comprehensive analysis of
statistical data on alcohol and crime published to date by BJS.
Sources of information include the BJS National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS), BJS self-report surveys of
correctional populations, and the periodic BJS censuses of
Federal, State, and local corrections facilities. In addition,
arrest data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program and
the most recent data available from the FBI's National
Incident-Based Reporting Program are used to supplement national
survey data.
Finally, the report includes new analyses from the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatal Accident Reporting
System (FARS), a database providing detail on more than 2.1
million fatal motor vehicle accidents that occurred over the
last two decades. The study provides the first-ever estimates
of the level of intoxication among drinking offenders at the
time of the commission of the offense for which they had been
convicted.
The role of alcohol in crime victimization
* About 3 million violent crimes occur each year in which
victims perceive the offender to have been drinking at the time
of the offense. Among those victims who provided information
about the offender's use of alcohol, about 35% of the
victimizations involved an offender who had been drinking.
About two-thirds of the alcohol-involved crimes were
characterized as simple assaults.
* Two-thirds of victims who suffered violence by an intimate (a
current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported
that alcohol had been a factor. Among spouse victims, 3 out of
4 incidents were reported to have involved an offender who had
been drinking. By contrast, an estimated 31% of stranger
victimizations where the victim could determine the absence or
presence of alcohol were perceived to be alcohol-related.
* For about 1 in 5 violent victimizations involving perceived
alcohol use by the offender, victims also reported they believed
the offender to have been using drugs as well.
* Data for 1995 from the National Incident-Based Reporting
System (NIBRS) of the FBI indicate that about half the incidents
described by the investigating officer as alcohol-related were
between offenders and victims who were intimates.
* NIBRS data show that about 7 out of 10 alcohol-involved
incidents of violence occurred in a residence; the hour
beginning at 11 p.m. was the most frequent time of occurrence;
and about 2 in 10 incidents involved the use of a weapon other
than hands, fists, or feet.
DUI/DWI: Arrests and fatal accidents
* In 1996, local law enforcement agencies nationwide made an
estimated 1,467,300 arrests for driving under the influence
(DUI). Arrests for DUI peaked in 1983 when there were 1.9
million arrests. Compared to 1983, the per capita rate of
arrest for DUI in 1996 was 34% lower.
* Declines in DUI arrest rates have occurred for every age
group. Of particular note is the decrease in DUI arrest rates
for those under the age of 21 compared to their rates of DUI
arrest in the early 1980's when States had not adopted a uniform
drinking age. In 1980 persons between 16 and 20 years old
accounted for 10% of licensed drivers but 15% of DUI arrestees.
In 1996, this age group accounted for 7% of drivers and 8%
of DUI arrestees.
* In 1996 there were 17,126 alcohol-related traffic
fatalities accounting for 40.9% of all traffic fatalities during
the year. This is a 29% reduction from the more than 24,000
fatalities recorded 10 years earlier when alcohol was involved
in 52% of the fatalities.
* An estimated 32% of fatal accidents involved an intoxicated
driver or pedestrian (the majority are drivers, however) with a
blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, of at least 0.10 grams of
alcohol per deciliter of blood, the most commonly used
definition of intoxication.
* Over the last decade rates of intoxication in fatal accidents
have declined across every age group. In 1986, there was about
1 driver involved in a fatal accident in which he/she was
intoxicated for every 10,500 drivers; in 1996, the rate
translates into about 1 intoxicated driver in a fatal accident
for every 17,200 licensed drivers.
* Among drinking drivers whose BAC at the time of the accident
was known, 84% had a BAC of at least 0.08 g/dl and 78% had a BAC
of 0.10 g/dl or higher.
* The average BAC among drinking drivers in fatal accidents was
0.16 g/dl. There was a strong relationship between average BAC
among drinking drivers in fatal accidents and prior driving
record -- consistently, those with prior suspensions, invalid
licenses, and prior driving while intoxicated (DWI) convictions
reflected the highest BAC's at the time of the crash. Among
drivers in fatal accidents who had at least two prior DWI
convictions, the average BAC was 0.21 g/dl, the highest of any
group.
Use of alcohol by convicted offenders
* Among the 5.3 million convicted offenders under the
jurisdiction of corrections agencies in 1996, nearly 2 million,
or about 36%, were estimated to have been drinking at the time
of the offense. The vast majority, about 1.5 million, of these
alcohol-involved offenders were sentenced to supervision in the
community: 1.3 million on probation and more than 200,000 on
parole.
* There was some variation in the percentage of offenders who
had been using alcohol at the time of the offense across
different correctional statuses: 40% of both jail inmates and
probationers, 32% of State prisoners, and 29% of parolees.
* Alcohol use at the time of the offense was commonly found
among those convicted of public-order crimes, a type of offense
most highly represented among those on probation and in jail.
Among violent offenders, 41% of probationers, 41% of those in
local jails, 38% of those in State prisons, and 20% of those in
Federal prisons were estimated to have been drinking when they
committed the crime.
* Based upon self-reports of what offenders were drinking and
for how long, it is estimated that the average BAC level at the
time of the crime was:
Proba- Jail State
tioners inmates prisoners
All offenders .16 .19 .27
Violent .18 .20 .28
Property .24 .22 .30
Drugs .14 .15 .19
Public-orders* .14 .19 .23
*Includes offenses like driving while intoxicated, weapons
offenses, and commercial vice.
* An estimated 62% of probationers drinking at the time of the
offense and -- among daily drinkers -- 65% of convicted jail
inmates and less than 50% of State prisoners reported ever
participating in an alcohol treatment program.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alcohol and health issues
* An analysis dependence among trauma center patients found that
the prevalence of alcoholism was substantially higher among
vehicular crash victims and other trauma patients than among the
equivalent general population group. More than half of trauma
patients with a positive BAC at the time of the trauma were
diagnosed as alcoholics, and nearly 1 in 7 patients who were not
drinking at the time of the trauma were diagnosed as
alcohol-dependent.
Source: "Alcoholism at the Time of Injury Among Trauma Center
Patients: Vehicular Crash Victims Compared with Other Patients,"
Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 29, No. 6, 1997.
---------------------------------------------------------------
* Death rates from alcohol-induced causes have declined
especially sharply among black males and females,
the the rates among blacks are twic those among whites.
Rates of death caused by alcohol
per 100,000 persons, adjusted for age
Whites Blacks
Year All groups Males Females Males Females
1980 8.4 10.8 3.5 32.4 10.6
1985 7.0 9.2 2.8 27.7 8.0
1990 7.2 9.9 2.8 26.6 7.7
1992 6.8 9.9 2.6 22.3 6.3
1993 6.7 9.7 2.7 21.3 5.5
1994 6.8 9.9 2.7 20.4 5.6
Percent change
1980-94 -19.0% -8.3% -22.9% -37.0% -47.2%
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Monthly Vital Statistics
Reports.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources of data on alcohol and crime
National Crime Victimization Survey
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is one of two
statistical series maintained by the Department of Justice to
learn about the extent to which crime is occurring. The NCVS,
which gathers data on criminal victimization from a national
sample of household respondents, provides annual estimates of
crimes experienced by the public without regard to whether a law
enforcement agency was called about the crime. Initiated
in 1972, the NCVS was designed to complement what is known about
crimes reported to local law enforcement agencies under the
FBI's annual compilation known as the Uniform Crime Reporting
Program (UCR).
The NCVS gathers information about crime and its consequences
from a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents age 12
or older about any crimes they may have experienced. For
personal contact crimes the survey determines who the
perpetrator was.
In the latter half of the 1980's, the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS), together with the Committee on Law and Justice
of the American Statistical Association, sought to improve the
NCVS components to enhance the measurement of crimes including
rape, sexual assault, and intimate and family violence. The new
questions and revised procedures were phased in from January
1992 through June 1993 in half the sampled households. Since
July 1993 the redesigned methods have been used for the entire
national sample. The NCVS asks victims of violence directly
about their perceptions of alcohol and drug use by the offender.
Uniform Crime Reporting Program
The Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) of the FBI provides
another opportunity to examine the issue of alcohol-involved
arrests. The summary-based component of the UCR, launched 70
years ago, gathers aggregate data on eight categories of crime
from law enforcement agencies nationwide. While the summary UCR
does provide detailed information on those arrested for driving
while under the influence, it does not provide any information
necessary to identify violent crimes or arrests involving
alcohol. Such data are available, however, from the
incident-based component of the UCR, the National Incident-Based
Reporting Program (NIBRS).
National Incident-Based Reporting Program
NIBRS represents the next generation of crime data from law
enforcement agencies. Rather than being restricted to a group
of 8 Index crimes that the summary-based program uses, NIBRS
obtains information on 57 types of crimes. The information
collected on each violent crime incident includes
victim-offender demographics, victim-offender relationship, time
and place of occurrence, weapon use, and victim injuries. An
important contribution of NIBRS is that investigating officers
are asked to record their perception of whether alcohol was a
factor in the incident. As of the end of 1997, jurisdictions
certified by the FBI as capable of reporting incident-based data
in the required format account for just over 7% of the U.S.
population (about 19 million Americans) and just over 6% of all
Index crimes (murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults,
burglaries, larcenies, and motor vehicle thefts).
In those States with certified NIBRS systems, about 50% of the
population is now covered by NIBRS reporting to the FBI. BJS is
currently funding preliminary studies of NIBRS data and their
utility for improving our knowledge of violence with special
regard for such concerns as intimate violence, family violence,
and domestic violence and the role alcohol may play in these
kinds of police-reported incidents.
Surveys of probationers, jail and prison inmates
BJS also conducts national surveys of persons under probation
supervision and those confined in local jails and State and
Federal prisons. These nationally representative surveys are
the principal source of information on those serving time
following a conviction: their backgrounds, their prior criminal
histories, and the circumstances surrounding the offense for
which they had been incarcerated.
Both jail and prison surveys obtain from violent offenders
details about the offender's relationship to the victim and how
the crime was carried out. All three surveys incorporate
detailed questions regarding alcohol use and abuse both before
the crime and at the time the crime was committed. In addition,
a number of questions are devoted to treatment and the types of
treatments received.
Censuses of prisons and jails
BJS carries out facility-level data collection among each of the
1,500 State and Federal prisons and the 3,300 local jails.
These statistical series gather detailed information on the
operations of each facility, including capacity, staffing,
programs, court orders, and special functions or services
provided to inmates. Facilities are queried about their
treatment programs and the extent of inmate participation.
Fatal Accident Reporting System
Since 1975, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
of the U.S. Department of Transportation has maintained the
annual Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) which obtains
accident-level data on each motor vehicle crash involving a
fatality. FARS uses State agencies under contract to complete a
standardized form on each fatal accident which covers weather
and road conditions, vehicle type, number of passengers and
fatalities, the manner of the crash, whether there was a
drinking or drug-using driver involved, and specific measurement
of blood alcohol concentration or BAC (grams of alcohol per
deciliter of blood).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents
Foreword
Highlights
Sources of data on alcohol
and crime
Measuring the extent to which alcohol
is involved in crime
Victims' perceptions of alcohol
use by offenders
Incident-based data on alcohol
and violent crime
DUI/DWI: Arrests and fatal accidents
Examining BAC factors
Use of alcohol by convicted offenders
Offenders on probation and alcohol use
Local jail inmates and alcohol use
Inmates in State prisons and alcohol use
Appendix I: Formula for calculating BAC
Appendix II: Liquor law
violations on college campuses
Datapoints for the graphics
Measuring the extent to which alcohol is involved in crime
Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey indicate
that victims of about 3 million violent crimes each year, or
about a quarter of all violent crimes, perceived the offenders
to have been drinking. Among victims of violence who were
certain that they could tell whether or not an offender had been
drinking, about 35% of the violent victimizations were believed
to have involved an assailant who had been drinking.
Household surveys reveal that alcohol use is common among most
U.S. residents. An estimated 8 in 10 persons aged 12 or older
has used alcohol at some time in their lives and half describe
themselves as current users. Prevalence of use, however, is
age-sensitive since all States have, since 1983, revised the
legal age to a uniform 21 years old.
Alcohol use/1
Age Ever Current
12 or older 82% 52%
12-17 41 21
18-25 84 61
26-34 90 63
35 or older 87 53
***Footnote 1: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, annual.
Data obtained from Statistical Abstract of the United States
1997, table 220, p. 144.***
About 1 in 18 persons age 18 or older describe themselves as
consuming two or more drinks per day ***Footnote 2: National
Center for Health Statistics, Health Promotion and Disease
Prevention: United States, 1990, Vital and Health Statistics,
Series 10, No. 185.*** but national estimates of annual per
capita consumption of alcoholic beverages have dropped about 10%
since 1990. Even with this decline, aggregate consumption
translates into about one drink per day for every resident.
Per capita annual
consumption of alcohol/3
1990 1995
Total (gallons) 40.0 gal. 35.9 gal.
Beer 34.9 31.6
Wine 2.9 2.6
Spirits 2.2 1.8
***Footnote 3: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic
Research Service, Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures,
1997: Annual Data, 1970-95.***
In 1995, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration conducted a survey of all known facilities
providing alcoholism treatment in the United States. The survey
revealed that there were nearly 800,000 clients receiving
services who were considered to have an alcohol problem. Almost
certainly the number of clients participating in such programs
would represent a substantial underestimate of the size of the
total population for whom alcohol abuse is a significant problem.
A variety of ways exist to estimate the extent to which alcohol
may be a factor in crime. A significant caveat is that most
alcohol consumption does not result in crime: the vast majority
of those who consume alcohol do not engage in criminal behavior.
However, since nonoffending behavior is not typically measured,
there is little statistical information upon which to base any
estimate of the likelihood of committing a criminal act when
drinking or following a period of drinking.
In 1993 the National Research Council's Panel on the
Understanding and Control of Violent Behavior (Albert J. Reiss
and Jeffrey A. Roth, editors, Understanding and Preventing
Violence, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1993, pages
184-5) concluded, after an exhaustive review of the literature
that existing prevalence research was not "sufficient to show
that alcohol use or intoxication increases the general risk of
violence." However, the panel did observe that many studies had
documented offender use of alcohol preceding the offense and
that offender populations usually were found to contain "heavy"
or "problem" drinkers.
Victims' perceptions of alcohol use by offenders
On average each year from 1992 to 1995, there were an estimated
11.1 million violent victimizations of residents age 12 or older
(figure 1). Victims of violence were asked to describe whether
they perceived the offender to have been drinking or using drugs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1. An annual average of nearly 3 million victims a year
perceived the use of alcohol by the violent offenders who
victimized them, 1992-95
Victims of violence 11.1 million
Offender perceived to be
using drugs/alcohol 3.4 million
Offender using--
Alcohol only 2.2 million
Drugs only 0.6 million
Both 0.5 million
Unknown substance 0.1 million
Victim did not believe
the offender to be using
drugs or alcohol 4.3 million
Victim could not tell
if offender was using
drugs or alcohol 3.4 million
--------------------------------------------------------------
* Victims indicate that for about 7.7 million violent
victimizations, about 70% of all violent victimizations, they
are able to distinguish whether or not alcohol or drug use by
the offender was a factor.
* In about 30% of violent victimizations, the victim does not
know whether the offender had been using drugs or alcohol.
* Based on victim perceptions, about 2.7 million violent crimes
occur each year in which victims are certain that the offender
had been drinking. For about 1 in 5 of these violent
victimizations involving alcohol use by the offender, victims
believed the offender was also using drugs at the time of the
offense (figure 2).
Figure 2. Among the 11.1 million victims of violence each year,
1 in 4 were certain that the offender had been drinking before
committing the crime.
Was the offender Percent of victims
using -- Of violence
Alcohol only 19.7
Alcohol and drugs 4.7
Alcohol or drugs 1.3
Drugs only 5.1
Neither 38.7
Don't know 30.4
* For those violent victimizations in which the victims
indicated that they were able to report whether alcohol or drugs
had been used by the offender, about 56% reported no use of
either substance and 37% believed the offender was using alcohol
or alcohol in combination with drugs (figure 3).
Figure 3. Among victims of violence who were able to describe
the offender's use of drugs or alcohol, about two-thirds in an
intimate relationship with the offender reported the offender's
drinking at the time of the crime.
Offender using
Neither drugs
Victim-offender relations Total Alcohol Drugs Drugs or alcohol nor alcohol
All victims of violence 100% 28% 7% 9% 56%
Intimate* 100 55 9 12 25
Nonmarital relative 100 38 14 12 36
Acquaintance 100 28 9 10 52
Stranger 100 24 6 7 63
*Includes current or former spouse, boyfriend, and girlfriend.
* Among victims who were able to distinguish alcohol or drug use
by the offender, the victim-offender relationship was an
important factor in whether the victim reported alcohol
involvement:
Percent of violent
victimizations with
offender using
alcohol
All victims 37%
Intimate* 67
Nonmarital relatives 50
Acquaintances 38
Strangers 31
*Includes current or former spouse, boyfriend, and girlfriend.
* Among spouse victims of violence who were able to describe
substance use by the offender, 3 out of 4 incidents were
reported to have involved an offender who had been drinking.
Percent of spouse violence
victimizations involving
substance use
Alcohol only 65%
Drugs only 5
Both alcohol and drugs 11
Either alcohol or drugs 1
Neither alcohol nor drugs 19
* Victim perceptions of the offender's use of drugs or alcohol
also varies by type of crime (figure 4).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 4. Drinking offenders committed over a third of the
rapes or sexual assaults of persons older than 12 and over a
quarter of the aggravated and simple assaults, according to
victim's perceptions.
Average annual number of
violent victimizations 11.1 million
Rape or sexual assault 497,000 incidents
Offender was using --
Alcohol 30%
Drugs 4
Both 7
Either 2
Neither 24
Unknown 34
Robbery 1,287,900 incidents
Alcohol 10%
Drugs 9
Both 5
Either 1
Neither 59
Unknown 16
Aggravated assault 2,427,900 incidents
Alcohol 21%
Drugs 6
Both 7
Either 1
Neither 42
Unknown 23
Simple assault 6,882,400 incidents
Alcohol 21%
Drugs 4
Both 4
Either 1
Neither 35
Unknown 36
-------------------------------------------------------------
Based on victim reports, on average each year about 183,000
rapes and sexual assaults involve alcohol use by the offender,
as do just over 197,000 robberies, about 661,000 aggravated
assaults, and nearly 1.7 million simple assaults.
Combined use of drugs and alcohol accounted for 18% of the
alcohol-involved rapes and sexual assaults, 36% of the
alcohol-involved robberies, 24% of the aggravated assaults in
which the offender was drinking, and 15% of the simple assaults
involving a drinking offender.
* When the victim of violence perceived that the offender was
using only alcohol at the time of the offense, nearly two-thirds
of the victimizations were reported to have been simple assault
(figure 5). Robbery accounted for about 6% of the violent
victimizations involving a drinking offender but 19% of the
incidents where the offender was perceived to have been using
drugs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 5. Nearly two-thirds of the victims of violence who
perceived that the offender committed the offense while using
only alcohol were victims of simple assault.
Offender using
Drugs or Neither drugs
Victim-offender relationship Alcohol Drugs alcohol nor alcohol
Total 100% 100% 100% 100%
Rape/sexual assault 7 4 6 3
Robbery 6 19 13 18
Aggravated assault 23 25 29 24
Simple assault 65 52 52 56
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Victim perceptions of offender use of alcohol translate into
an estimated 457,000 alcohol-involved violent victimizations
between victims and offenders who share an intimate
relationship. Drinking offenders were also responsible for
about 118,000 incidents of violence between family members
(excluding spouses), an estimated 744,000 violent incidents
between acquaintances, and about 1,360,000 incidents of violence
committed against a stranger (figure 6).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drinking, intimate violence, and race
On average, there are about 1 million incidents of violence each
year in which women are the victims of an intimate assailant --
a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. Among the
women who knew whether the offender had been drinking or using
drugs, about two-thirds of both black and white victims reported
that the offender with whom they shared an intimate relationship
had been drinking.
Percent of female victims
of intimate violence
Offender using All White Black
Alcohol only 57% 58% 50%
Drugs only 8 9 7
Both 11 10 12
Either 2 1 4
Neither 22 21 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 6. Alcohol was part of about 40% of the violent
victimizations of a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or
girlfriend. About 20% to 25% of victims who were strangers,
acquaintances, or nonintimate relatives to the violent offender
reported that person to have been drinking.
Average annual number
of violent victmizations 11.1 million
Offender was to the victim--
Current or former spouse,
boyfriend, or girlfriend 1,143,400 incidents
Offender was using --
Alcohol 34%
Drugs 5
Both 6
Either 1
Neither 15
Unknown 39
Parent, own child,
other related 481,800 incidents
Alcohol 19%
Drugs 7
Both 6
Either <1
Neither 18
Unknown 50
Casual or well-known
acquaintance 3,590,300 incidents
Alcohol 16%
Drugs 5
Both 5
Either <1
Neither 29
Unknown 44
Stranger 5,516,800 incidents
Alcohol 20%
Drugs 5
Both 4
Either 2
Neither 52
Unknown 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 7. About 1 in 5 victims of violence who perceived the
offender to have been using alcohol at the time of the offense,
a half million victms each year, suffered a financial loss due
to medical expenses, broken or stolen property, or lost wages --
a total annual loss of $400 million.
Average loss Estimated total
Type of expense/loss per victim annual loss
Total 834 408100000
Medical expenses 1490 229000000
Cash loss 136 8200000
Property
Loss 500 50000000
Repair 218 33900000
Replacement 308 26100000
Lost pay from--
Injury 619 45300000
Other causes 390 15500000
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alcohol and crime on U.S. campus
Beginning in 1995, BJS modified its victimization survey to
determine if a sampled household is on a college campus and if
any household members are college students. With this more
precise information, it has become possible to learn more about
the victimization experience of college students, both those who
live on campus and those who live off campus.
College students reported about 463,000 violent victimizations
in 1995 in which alcohol use by the offender was a factor. An
estimated 22% of the alcohol-involved incidents were perceived
to have also involved offender drug use. An estimated 90% of
the alcohol-involved violent victimizations affecting college
students occurred off campus.
* Among the 15.4 million college students in 1995, about 1.5
million experienced a violent crime.
* About 87% of the violent crimes sustained by college students
occurred off campus.
* Overall, about 24% of the victims of violence reported the
offender was using alcohol at the time of the offense; about 4%
described offender drug use; and about 8% said that the offender
was using both drugs and alcohol or that they could not tell which.
* Just over 43% of the victims of violence were certain no drugs
or alcohol had been involved in the offense.
* Just over 20% did not know whether the offender was using
either drugs or alcohol.
* Per capita arrest rates for liquor law violations are highest
at public 4-year colleges.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 8.
U.S. college students
number nationwide 15.4 million
Living on campus 2.2 million
Victims of violence 194000
Violence occurred
On campus 59000
Alcohol involved 41%
Off campus 135000
Alcohol involved 37%
Living off campus 13.2 million
Victims of violence 1.3 million
Violence occurred
On campus 136,000
Alcohol involved 18%
Off campus 1,179,000
Alcohol involved 31%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incident-based data on alcohol and violent crime
The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) represents
the next generation of crime data from law enforcement agencies.
It is designed to replace the nearly 70-year-old summary
Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the FBI that compiles
aggregate data on eight crimes. NIBRS utilizes information from
individual crime reports recorded by police officers at the time
of the incident. Rather than relying upon a group of
8 Index offenses to convey the overall crime situation, NIBRS
collects information on 57 types of crimes.
In addition, NIBRS provides the opportunity to analyze a wide
array of contingencies of crime: who the victim was, the
relationship of the victim to the offender, age of both victim
and offender, where and when the incident occurred, whether
alcohol may have been involved in the offense, and the
consequences of the crime such as injuries and property loss. A
significant benefit of NIBRS is that the report of the incident
asks the investigating officer to indicate suspected alcohol use
by the offender.
Incident-based data on alcohol-involved violence, from
jurisdictions which maintained such records of crime in 1995,
provide details on such violence not available from most law
enforcement agencies:***Footnote 4: Data for 1995 were obtained
from law enforcement agencies in nine States. The violent
offenses utilized in this analysis included murder and
nonnegligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault,
and intimidation. Coverage for these data is estimated to be
about 2% of murders in the United States, 4% of reported
aggravated assaults, and an unknown percentage of simple assault
and intimidation offenses.***
* About half of the incidents of alcohol-related violence
recorded in the NIBRS 1995 dataset involved offenders and
victims who were intimates -- current or former spouses,
boyfriends or girlfriends (figure 9).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 9. About half of all violent incidents in which alcohol
was present and for which the police completed an incident
report in 1995 involved victims and offenders in an intimate
relationship, including current and former spouses, boyfriends,
and girlfriends.
Percent of violent incidents that involved alcohol,
by the victim-offender relationship
Percent of violent
incidents involv-
ing alcohol
Spouses/ex-spouses 29.4%
Acquaintances 28.6
Boyfriends/girlfriend 19.2
Strangers 11.8
Other family members 11.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* In just over 6% of the incidents of alcohol-related violence,
victims were children under the age of 18 (figure 10). About 9%
of the offenders who were suspected of having been drinking in
violent incidents were under the legal drinking age of 21.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 10. In those violent incidents recorded by the police in
which alcohol was a factor, about 9% of the offenders and nearly
14% of the victims were under age 21.
Percent in violent
incidents
Age Offenders Victims
14 or younger 0.3% 2.5%
15-17 2.2 3.8
18-20 6.2 7.2
21-24 10.6 14.1
25-29 18.0 17.6
30-39 37.9 34.6
40-49 16.2 14.3
50 or older 8.6 5.9
Source: FBI, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 1995.
------------------------------------------------------------------
* About 7 out of 10 alcohol-involved violent incidents occurred
in a residence; 1 in 10 occurred in a bar or restaurant.
* The largest number of violent incidents involving alcohol use
by the offender were found to occur in the hour beginning at 11
p.m.; the fewest incidents occurred at 9 a.m. (figure 11).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 11. Violent incidents occurring between 11 p.m.
and midnight are the most likely to involve alcohol.
Percent of violent incidents involving
alcohol, by hour of occurrence
Percent of incidents of
Time with alcohol present
Midnight 9.3
1 9.6
2 7.8
3 4.8
4 a.m. 2.6
5 1.4
6 1.0
7 0.9
8 a.m. 0.8
9 0.7
10 0.9
11 1.0
Noon 1.3
1 1.4
2 1.7
3 2.2
4 p.m. 3.2
5 3.5
6 4.8
7 5.8
8 p.m. 7.1
9 8.5
10 9.6
11 10.2
Midnight 9.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
* Nearly 80% of violent incidents in which the offender had been
drinking involved the use of hands, fists, or feet by the
offender (figure 12).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 12. About 1 in 5 alcohol-related incidents involved a
weapon other than the offender's hands, feet, or fists.
Firearms were involved in about 1 in 25 violent incidents in
which alcohol was considered to be a factor.
Type of weapon used in alcohol-related incidents
Percent of
alcohol-related
violent incidents
Hands or feet 79.1%
Firearms 3.7
Knives 6.9
Blunt objects 6.4
Other weapons 3.9
Source: FBI, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 1995.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Firearms were involved in about 4% of the alcohol-related
violent incidents.
Figure 13. About 6 in 10 incidents of alcohol-related violence
brought to the attention of the police resulted in an injury to
the victim.
Male and female victims of such violence were about equally
likely to have experienced an injury, according to police
incident records. Male victims were about twice as likely as the
females to have sustained a major injury, largely because of the
higher level of reported severe lacerations.
Percent of victims
All Male Female
Uninjured 39% 39% 38%
Jury 61% 61% 62%
Major injury 10 16 7
Broken bones 1 2 1
Severe lacerations 6 10 4
Internal injuries,
teeth knocked out
knocked uncon-
scious 1 1 1
Other major injuries 2 3 2
Minor injury 51 45 55
Source: FBI, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 1995.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 14. Compared to their share of licensed drivers, DUI
arrestees are overrepresented at each age from 18 through 44.
Persons under the legal drinking age of 21 account for about 8%
of DUI arrestees. About 7% of licensed drivers are between the
ages 21 and 24, but this age group accounts for nearly 15% of DUI
arrests. By contrast, those age 50 or older account for a third
of all drivers but 9% of DUI arrestees.
Percent
Licensed DUI
Age drivers arrestees
16 .9% .3%
17 1.3 .8
18 1.4 1.8
19 1.6 2.4
20 1.6 2.6
21 1.6 3.6
22 1.7 3.6
23 1.7 3.6
24 1.8 3.7
25-29 10.2 17.2
30-34 11.1 17.3
35-39 11.7 15.7
40-44 10.9 11.1
45-49 9.7 7.3
50 or older 32.8 9.0
Total number 179500000 1466300
Sources: Department of Transportation, Highway Statistics, 1996
and FBI, Crime in the U.S., 1996.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DUI/DWI: Arrests and fatal accidents
Driving while under the influence of alcohol (DUI), which also
includes driving while under the influence of drugs and driving
while intoxicated (DWI) represent the most common reasons for
arrests by the police. In 1996 DUI accounted for 1 in 10
arrests for all crimes nationwide, an estimated 1,467,300
arrests. That same year, an estimated 10,000 intoxicated
drivers were involved in fatal motor vehicle accidents resulting
in about 13,400 deaths.***Footnote 5: The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration defines intoxicated drivers as
those with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 grams of
alcohol per deciliter of blood or higher, the legal measure of
intoxication in most States.***
* The number of DUI arrests has been declining:
-- In 1983, the highest recorded year for DUI arrests in the
last 30 years, local law enforcement agencies reported 1,921,100
arrests for DUI from a population of 154.4 million licensed
drivers, about 1 arrest for every 80 licensed drivers.
-- In 1996 there were 1,467,300 arrests for DUI (including
persons under age 16) with a licensed driver population
numbering 179.5 million, a rate of 1 arrest for every 122
licensed drivers.
This represents a 34% reduction in the per capita rate of DUI
arrest nationwide over the period.
* Declines in DUI arrest rates have occurred for every category
of age (figure 15). The age group with the highest per capita
rate of arrest for DUI, 21-year-olds, had a rate of 1 arrest for
every 42 drivers in 1990 which dropped to 1 arrest for every 56
drivers in 1996Ca 24% decrease.
Figure 15. The number of arrests for DUI per 1,000 licensed
drivers dropped 24% from 1990 to 1996.
The decline in arrest rates occurred for every age category,
with the drivers ages 25 to 29 having the largest percentage decrease.
DUI arrest rate Percent change
per 1,000 drivers in rates of DUI
Age 1990 1996 arests, 1990-96
All ages 10.8 8.2 -24.1%
16 3.5 3.2 -8.6
17 6.6 5.3 -19.7
18 14.1 10.6 -24.8
19 17.0 12.5 -26.5
20 18.5 13.2 -28.6
21 23.8 18.0 -24.4
22 23.1 17.3 -25.1
23 22.1 16.9 -23.5
24 20.6 16.3 -20.9
25-29 20.0 13.8 -31.0
30-34 16.1 12.7 -21.1
35-39 11.9 11.0 -7.6
40-44 8.9 8.3 -6.7
45-49 7.1 6.1 -14.1
50 or older 2.7 2.2 -18.5
----------------------------------------------------------------
* The largest decrease in DUI arrest rates since 1990 has
occurred among those age 25 to 29 (-31%) while arrest rates have
declined less than 10% among persons age 16 and between ages 35
and 44.
* From the early to mid-1970's, States lowered the minimum age
for the purchase or sale of alcoholic beverages. Between 1970
and 1973, 24 States reduced the minimum age, and by 1983, the
peak year for DUI arrests, 33 States had a minimum age below
21.***Footnote 6: This change primarily reflected ratification
of the 26th amendment (1971) that extended the right to vote to
18 year-olds.***
* As a result of changes in Federal highway funds legislation,
all States raised the minimum age to 21. In 1980 persons under
age 21 accounted for 10% of licensed drivers but 15% of those
arrested for DUI, a 50% overrepresentation for drivers of this
age. By contrast, in 1996, persons under age 21 accounted for
7% of drivers and 8% of arrestees for DUI, a substantially
reduced disparity compared to 1980.
* The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of
the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that in 1996,
there were 17,126 alcohol-related fatalities accounting for
40.9% of all traffic fatalities during the year.***Footnote 7:
NHTSA defines alcohol-related as any fatal traffic crash in
which a driver or pedestrian had a measureable non-zero BAC
(0.01 g/dl or higher). Intoxication is defined as 0.10 g/dl or
higher.*** This represents a 29% reduction from the 24,045
alcohol-related fatalities in 1986, a year in which
alcohol-related crashes accounted for 52% of the fatalities.
NHTSA also estimates that during 1996 about 7% of all crashes
(both fatal and nonfatal) were alcohol-related and more than
321,000 persons were injured in such crashes.
* While nearly 41% of traffic fatalities in 1996 were
alcohol-related, an estimated 32% involved an intoxicated driver
or pedestrian (BAC=0.10 g/dl or higher) -- a total of 13,395
fatalities. Among these fatalities, about 70% were themselves
intoxicated. In 1996 local law enforcement authorities carried
out 140 arrests for DUI per intoxicated driver involved in a
fatal crash.
* Rates of intoxication among drivers in fatal accidents have
declined for every age group over the last decade. In 1986 an
estimated 26% of drivers had a BAC of at least 0.10 g/dl while
in 1996 about 19% were estimated to have had a BAC at this level.
Comparing 1986 to 1996 by age, the percentage of drivers in
fatal accidents who were intoxicated:
Percent of drivers
in fatal accidents
who were intoxicated
Age 1986 1996
All drivers 25.8% 18.8%
16-20 years 23.7 14.1
21-24 36.1 27.0
25-34 33.0 26.2
35-44 24.5 21.9
45-64 16.2 13.6
65 or older 6.8 5.4
* In 1986 there were about 1 intoxicated driver in a fatal
accident for every 10,500 licensed drivers. By 1996, this rate
had improved to 1 intoxicated driver involved in a fatal
accident for every 17,200 licensed drivers. Rates of involvement
in driving while intoxicated in fatal accidents (the number of
intoxicated drivers in fatal accidents per 100,000 licensed
drivers) have decreased across each age group over the last
decade:
Number of
intoxicated drivers
in fatal accidents
per 100,000
licensed drivers Change
1986 1996 in rate
All drivers 9.5 5.8 -39%
16-20 years 18.6 9.1 -51
21-24 22.3 13.5 -39
25-34 13.3 8.8 -34
35-44 7.1 5.9 -17
45-64 3.7 3.0 -19
65 or older 1.7 1.4 -18
* Alcohol involvement in fatal accidents during 1996 varied
across the States ranging from 24% of the traffic fatalities in
Utah to more than half the fatalities in Alaska, Louisiana,
Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington (figure
16).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 16. Percent of fatalities Percent of fatalities
Drivers had Drivers had
Number of Involved a BAC 0.10 Number of Involved a BAC 0.10
fatalities alcohol or higher fatalities alcohol or higher
U.S. total 41907 40.9% 32.0% Missouri 1149 49.4 38.7
Alabama 1143 42.6 34.1 Montana 200 37.1 33.0
Alaska 80 51.1 44.4 Nebraska 293 33.6 26.0
Arizona 993 43.9 34.8 Nevada 348 50.1 37.3
Arkansas 615 34.7 26.9 New Hampshire 134 34.7 26.4
California 3989 40.2 30.1 New Jersey 818 34.2 25.4
Colorado 617 39.6 33.0 New Mexico 481 50.1 42.0
Connecticut 310 49.2 38.2 New York 1564 33.4 24.0
Delaware 116 41.0 28.5 North Carolina 1493 35.1 27.8
District of 62 49.2 36.0 North Dakota 85 53.4 44.9
Florida 2753 36.9 29.1 Ohio 1395 33.0 25.6
Georgia 1574 36.0 27.6 Oklahoma 772 36.3 28.2
Hawaii 148 44.4 31.5 Oregon 524 42.2 32.6
Idaho 258 33.8 26.0 Pennsylvania 1469 39.1 32.3
Illinois 1477 45.0 36.1 Rhode Island 69 48.4 36.2
Indiana 984 34.1 27.0 South Carolina 930 42.4 33.6
Iowa 465 42.5 33.0 South Dakota 175 39.9 31.1
Kansas 491 40.9 30.0 Tennessee 1239 40.2 32.8
Kentucky 841 35.2 28.1 Texas 3741 53.2 42.3
Louisiana 781 51.4 39.6 Utah 321 23.7 18.7
Maine 169 37.5 29.0 Vermont 88 43.9 36.9
Maryland 608 33.0 24.0 Virginia 875 38.6 30.2
Massachusett 417 44.4 32.0 Washington 712 50.0 40.1
Michigan 1505 40.7 31.6 West Virginia 345 38.0 31.6
Minnesota 576 37.9 30.0 Wisconsin 761 42.4 34.2
Mississippi 811 41.6 33.1 Wyoming 143 40.6 26.2
Source: Alcohol Traffic Safety Facts 1996, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Examining BAC factors
Knowledge of the level of intoxication of drivers in fatal
accidents is derived from the Fatal Accident Reporting System
(FARS) which gathers data on a wide variety of issues relating
to fatal accidents, including driver, vehicle, and environmental
factors associated with the crash. Initiated in 1975 by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, data on fatal
vehicle accidents are compiled by State officials from police
reports, files of State vehicle registration and drivers'
licenses, death certificates, hospital records, and other
sources and submitted under the FARS reporting program. Crashes
occurring on public roads in which a vehicle passenger or
nonpassenger (such as a pedestrian or cyclist) dies within 30
days are included.
BAC levels of drivers or pedestrians in fatal accidents may be
measured in a variety of ways using testing methods which examine samples
of blood, breath, urine, saliva, or other analyses of body
tissue. Given that BAC declines over time (BAC levels decrease
by about 0.015 g/dl per hour), measured BAC levels among
surviving drivers in fatal accidents would be somewhat less than
the actual BAC at the time of the crash.***Footnote 8: FARS
data in the following analyses were obtained from the Traffic
Safety CD-ROM: 1996, produced by the Bureau of Transportation
Statistics. This dataset contains annual FARS data files for
the first two decades of the program, 1975-94.***
* FARS data on BAC for crashes occurring in 1994 indicate that
such information is available for a third of fatal accidents.
However, BAC test results are available for about 60% of the
drivers in fatal accidents who were identified, presumably by
police officers or others, as having been drinking drivers.
* Among those crashes in which persons were tested for BAC, an
estimated 59% were found to have a BAC of zero and 41% had a
positive BAC of .01 g/dl or higher (figure 17).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 17. 4 out of 10 fatal motor vehicle accidents
had a drinking driver. A third of such
accidents involved a driver who had been
drinking and whose BAC was at least 0.08.
Blood alcohol Percent of
concentration fatal accidents
0 58.6%
0.01-0.05 4.7
0.06-0.07 1.9
0.08-0.09 2.4
0.1-0.19 17.2
0.2-0.25 9.1
0.26-0.29 3.5
0.3 2.6
Note: BAC is measured and reported for
about a third of the 92,000 fatal motor
accidents in 1994. Data shown here and
in subsequent figures are based on those
accidents where the BAC of the driver was known.
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, 1994.
---------------------------------------------------------------
* An estimated 34% of fatal accidents in which alcohol tests
were conducted reflected BAC levels of 0.08 or
higher.***Footnote 9: About 97% of those with positive BAC's
(.01 g/dl or higher) in the 1994 dataset were drivers in fatal
accidents. The remainder were pedestrians, cyclists, and
nonoccupants who were tested and reported as involved in the
fatal crash.***
Fatal accident data for 1996 indicate. that alcohol is more
likely to be a factor at night -- 62% of fatal crashes at night
involved alcohol -- than in the daytime when 18% were
alcohol-involved.
* Nearly half of all fatal accidents in which the driver has
been drinking occur on the weekend (figure 18). The rate of
alcohol involvement in 1996 fatal crashes occurring during the
weekend was 54% compared to 31% during the week.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 18. Percent of fatal accidents with a
drinking driver, by day of occurrence
Percent of
fatal accidents
with a drinking driver
Monday 8.7
Tuesday 8.5
Wednesday 9.4
Thursday 11.0
Friday 16.2
Saturday 25.6
Sunday 20.4
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, 1975-94.
-------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 19. Percent of drinking drivers in fatal accidents with
recorded BAC levels.
.08 or higher .10 or higher
Midnight-12:59 62.9% 57.4%
1-1:59 74.1 69.3
2-4:59 72.3 67.4
5-6:59 33.3 30.7
7-9:59 12.7 11.7
10 a.m.-1:59 p.m 14.9 13.7
2-4:29 23.4 21.7
4:30-6:29 36.0 33.5
6:30-8:59 50.7 47.3
9-10:59 57.9 54.2
11 p.m.-11:59 p.m 63.7 59.3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* About 84% of drinking drivers in fatal accidents in 1994 were
reported to have been at 0.08 g/dl or higher (figure 20). About
78% were at 0.10 g/dl or higher.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 20. Of those drivers who were drinking before a fatal
crash, 40% had a BAC between 0.10 and 0.19, and 38% had a BAC of
0.20 or higher. To reach a BAC above 0.10, a man of average
size and metabolism would have to drink two drinks every hour
for 4 hours.
Percent of
drinking drivers
.05 or less 11.7%
.06-.07 4.8
.08-.09 6.0
.10-.19 39.9
.20-.29 29.9
.30 or higher 7.6
----------------------------------------------------------------
* Over the first 20 years of record-keeping by NHTSA on fatal
motor vehicle accidents, BAC data indicating alcohol consumption
by a driver involved in the accident are available for nearly a
quarter million drivers in crashes in which a death occurred.
Among these drinking drivers, about 3 out of 4 had a BAC of at
least 0.10 g/dl and just under a third were about twice that
level C 0.20 g/dl or higher (figure 21).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 21. About 4 in 10 drivers in fatal accidents with a
drinking driver age 30 or older had a BAC level above 0.20.
Percent of all drinking drivers
Age of BAC's above BAC's above BAC's
drinking driver 0.10 0.20 0.05 or less
All 75% 30% 11%
16-19 62 14 16
20-24 73 23 11
25-29 79 32 9
30-34 81 37 8
35-39 81 40 9
40-44 81 42 9
45-49 81 43 9
50 or older 74 38 15
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, 1975-94.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* The average BAC among drinking drivers in fatal accidents in
1994 was 0.16 g/dl (figure 22).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 22. Among drinking drivers involved in fatal accidents n
1994, the highest BAC levels were recorded for men, persons from
age 40 to 44, those whose license was suspended, and those with
prior DWI convictions.
Fatal accidents
Percent of
Drinking drivers Average BAC drinking drivers
All 0.16% 100%
15 or younger 0.12 0.3
16-19 0.12 9.0
20-24 0.15 21.2
25-29 0.16 16.9
30-34 0.17 15.9
35-39 0.18 12.3
40-44 0.19 8.0
45-49 0.18 6.1
50 or older 0.17 10.4
Male 0.16 85.4
Female 0.16 14.6
Drivers' license
Valid 0.16 76.2
Suspended 0.18 23.8
Prior DWI convictions
None 0.16 88.2
1 or more 0.20 11.8
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, 1994.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In fatal motor vehicle accidents --
* The highest average BAC among drinking drivers was found for
those from age 40 to 44 (0.19 g/dl).
Just under 12% of drinking drivers were known to have had prior
convictions for DWI.
The average level of intoxication was about 25% higher for these
repeat offenders than among those who had no reported prior DWI
convictions.
* The greater the number of prior license suspensions and DWI
convictions, the higher the average BAC among drinking drivers
involved in fatal accidents (figure 23). Those with two prior
DWI convictions had an average BAC which was 10% higher than
those with one prior conviction and 33% higher than those with
no prior convictions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 23. BAC records of drivers in fatal accidents show that
the levels of intoxication at the time of the accident vary with
the driving record.
Among drivers in fatal accidents, the highest average BAC level,
0.21, or more than twice the legally defined level of
intoxication in most States, was found for those with 2 or more
prior DWI convictions.
DWI convictions
2 or more 0.21
1 0.19
None 0.16
License suspension
2 or more 0.18
1 0.17
None 0.16
License
Valid 0.16
Invalid 0.18
All drinking drivers 0.16
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, 1994.
------------------------------------------------------------------
* There was substantial variation in driving background among
those at different levels of intoxication (figure 24). Those
with the highest blood alcohol concentrations, 0.30g/dl, were
about 4 times as likely as those not drinking to have had no
valid license at the time of the crash and about 7 times as
likely to have had prior DWI convictions. At each intoxication
level shown, the driving record of the fatal accident driver
worsened.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 24. Driving record of drivers in fatal crashes.
BAC levels
0.01- 0.08- 0.10- 0.20-
Driving record 0 0.07 0.09 0.19 -0.29 0.30+
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
License status
at time of accident
Valid 92 81 80 78 73 66
Invalid 8 19 20 22 27 34
Number of prior
license suspensions
None 91 82 78 77 71 69
1 5 9 13 12 14 11
2 or more 4 9 9 11 14 20
Prior DWI convictions
None 98 94 93 90 83 80
1 2 5 7 8 13 13
2 or more 1 1 1 2 3 7
Note: Table does not show those for whom the license status
was unknown or for whom BAC was not measured.
Source: Fatal Accident Reporting System, 1994.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use of alcohol by convicted offenders
More than 36% of the 5.3 million convicted adult offenders under
the jurisdiction of probation authorities, jails, prisons, or
parole agencies in 1996 had been drinking at the time of the
offenses for which they had been convicted. This translates
into just under 2 million convicted offenders nationwide on an
average dayC 1.3 million on probation, 85,000 in local jails,
360,000 in State and Federal prisons, and more than 200,000
under parole supervisionC for whom alcohol use was a factor in
their crime (figure 25).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 25. On an average day in 1996, an estimated 5.3 million
convicted offenders were under the supervision of criminal
justice authorities. Nearly 40% of these offenders, about 2
million, had been using alcohol at the time of the offense for
which they were convicted.
Convicted offenders
Estimated percent Estimated number
age using alcohol at of offenders forwhom
the time of the alcohol was a factor
Correctional author Number offense in their crime
Probation 3180363 39.9 1268965
Local jail 215136 39.5 84979
State prison 1074976 32.3 347217
Federal prison 105544 11.0 11610
Parole 704709 29.3 206480
Total 5280728 36.3 1919251
Note: The prevalence of alcohol use at the time of offense for parolees
was estimated by applying the known percentages for prisoners
by offense to the composition of the prison exit cohort.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BJS periodically conducts surveys among the Nation's offender
population in order to learn more about their backgrounds.
Representative samples of probationers and those in local jails
and State and Federal prisons are interviewed about their
criminal histories, family backgrounds, and many elements of the
current offense. Among the topics of interest is their
experience with alcohol, both in the past and at the time of the
crime. These data represent detailed information not typically
available from official records and provide the only uniform
national description of offender use of alcohol.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 26. Victims and offenders both report that about 4 in 10
violent crimes involved alcohol use by the offender.
Percent of incidents or
offenders in which the
violent offender was
Source drinking
State prisoners 37.5%
Probationers 40.7
Jail inmates 40.6
Victims 35.1
Note: Estimates for victims are based on those who reported
knowing if the offender used or did not use alcohol/drugs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
* As would be expected, those convicted of public-order crimes
such as DWI, weapons offenses, and commercial vice are the most
likely to report the use of alcohol at the time of the offense
(figure 27). For more than 4 in 10 convicted murderers, being
held either in jail or in State prison, alcohol use is reported
to have been a factor in the crime. Nearly half of those
convicted of assault and sentenced to probation had been
drinking when the offense occurred.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 27. Similar percentages of offenders on probation and in
jail or State prison committed their crimes while drinking.
Percent of offenders drinking at the
time of the offense
Adults Convicted offender Convicted offenders Convicted offenders
on probation in local jails in State prisons in Federal prisons
All offenses 39.9% 39.5% 32.3% 11.0%
Violent offenses 40.7% 40.6% 37.5% 20.4%
Murder * 43.7 41.4 37.2
Rape/sexual assault 31.8 31.5 35.9 26.5
Robbery * 37.6 32.7 13.9
Assault 45.5 45.4 41.6 38.1
Property offenses 18.5% 32.8% 31.8% 8.1%
Burglary 38.5 38.2 34.7 15.3
Larceny 16.3 31.6 29.2 15.4
Fraud 9.7 21.6 18.9 5.3
Drug offenses 16.3% 28.8% 18.0% 8.2%
Possession 14.4 28.6 18.3 8.3
Trafficking 16.2 28.4 17.5 8.3
Public-order offenses 75.1% 56.0% 43.0% 13.1%
Note: Data for this table are drawn from the 1996 Survey of Adults
on Probation, the 1996 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, and the 1991
Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities.
*Too few cases for estimate to be made.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 28a, b, and c
Figures 28a, b, c. Alcoholic beverages consumed by convicted offenders
drinking at the time of their offense, by jail and prison inmates
and adults on probation
Beverage consumed Adults on Local jails State prison
at the time of the crime probation inmates inmates
Beer 20% 20% 13%
Liquor 6 4 9
Beer and liquor 10 12 10
Other combinations 2 4 6
None 62 60 62
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Regardless of the type of corrections status, offenders were
about equally likely to have been drinking at the time of the
crime. What they consumed was similar, with beer being the most
commonly used alcoholic beverage: 30% of probationers, 32% of
jail inmates, and 23% of State prisoners said that they had been
drinking beer or beer in combination with liquor prior to the
commission of the current offense (figures 28a, b, and c).
Consumption of wine alone was comparatively rare among the
surveyed offender populations.
* On average, the consumption of an ounce of ethanol is equal to
drinking about two 12-ounce beers. Among offenders who drank
during the 8 hours or less before the offense, the amount of
ethanol consumed varied by correctional status and by offense.
Probationers were estimated to have consumed about 4.7 ounces of
ethanol, the equivalent of about 9 beers. By contrast, jail
inmates self-reported ethanol consumption equaling about 11
beers, and prisoners drank the equivalent of 15 beers during a
period of up to 8 hours prior to the crime. The highest overall
consumption prior to the offense was reported by State prisoners
serving time after conviction for a property offense. The
amount of ethanol consumed among offenders in the immediate
period (up to 8 hours) preceding the offense was:
Ounces of ethanol consumed
in a period up to 8 hours
before the crime
State
Type of Proba- Jail prison
offense tioners inmates inmates
All
offenders 4.7 oz 5.6 oz 7.5 oz
Violent 5.6 6.0 7.8
Property 6.5 6.4 8.3
Drugs 4.0 4.6 5.4
Public-order 4.2 5.5 6.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 29. While about 33% of State prisoners and nearly 40% of
convicted offenders under probation supervision or in local
jails reported drinking at the time of the offense, estimates of
the average blood alcohol concentration (BAC) suggest that State
prisoners were more severely intoxicated when they committed
their crime.
Offenders who reported drinking at the time of the offense
-- estimated average BAC at the time of the offense
Type of offense Probationers Local jail inmates State prisoners
All offenders 0.16 0.19 0.27
Violent 0.18 0.20 0.28
Homicide 0.22 0.26 0.28
Sexual assault 0.13 0.25 0.28
Robbery 0.32 0.22 0.28
Assault 0.18 0.18 0.30
Property 0.24 0.22 0.30
Burglary 0.26 0.24 0.31
Larceny 0.23 0.23 0.28
Motor vehicle theft 0.34 0.19 0.29
Drugs 0.14 0.15 0.19
Public-order 0.14 0.19 0.23
Note: See Appendix 1, page 32, for calculation of the BAC.
Analysis was limited to persons reporting drinking
for 8 hours or less preceding the offense.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* BJS surveys gather information on the type of beverage
consumed at the time of the crime, the amount of each type of
alcoholic beverage consumed, and the time spent drinking prior
to the occurrence of the offense. Together with the offenders'
self-reported body weight, it is possible to estimate the BAC of
each offender at the time the offense was committed (figure
29).***Footnote 10. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration provided a formula to BJS which takes these
factors into account and reduces BAC based upon a standardized
rate at which the body metabolizes ethanol. See Appendix I for
details.***
* These self-reports indicate that those offenders in State
prisons, though a smaller percentage had been drinking at the
time, were considerably more intoxicated when the crime occurred
than those on probation or being held in local jails. Those
convicted offenders on probation and in local jails appear, on
average, to be about as intoxicated as drivers in fatal
accidents (average BAC was about 0.17 g/dl for fatal accident
drivers from the FARS data for 1994) when they committed their
crimes. Such comparative data on estimated levels of
intoxication at the time of the crime have never been reported
previously for a nationally representative sample of offenders.
Offenders on probation and alcohol use
* About a quarter of the women on probation nationwide had been
drinking at the time of the offense compared to more than 40% of
male probationers (figure 30). For those convicted of
public-order crimes, nearly two-thirds of women and
three-quarters of men had been drinking at the time of the
offense.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 30. Percent of adults on probation who had
used alcohol at the time of their offense, by
offense and sex of offender
Percent of adults
on probation
drinking at the
time of the
offense
Male Female
Total 41% 25%
Violent 38 28
Property 21 06
Drug 17 12
Public-order 75 62
--------------------------------------------------------
* Probationers described a variety of behaviors at some time in
their lives when drinking:
About half of all probationers reported that they had driven a
vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
About half of all probationers had engaged in arguments with
family or friends while drinking.
About a third of probationers had gotten into a physical fight
with someone after drinking.
More than a third of probatioers reported that they had consumed
the equivalent of a fifth of liquor in a day.
About 1 in 12 probationers said they had a lost a job because of
drinking.
* Estimates of BAC for probationers at the time of the offense
were higher among those describing themselves as daily drinkers
(0.19 g/dl) compared to those who typically drank less often
(0.15 g/dl). The number of hours spent drinking was an
important factor in the level of intoxication at the time of the
offense:
Hours drinking Average BAC
1 .08
2 .10
3 .14
4 .19
5 or more .22
* Among those offenders drinking at the time of the offense, an
estimated 62% had previously participated in an alcohol
treatment program (figure 31).
--------------------------------------------------------
Figure 31.
Total probation population 100%
Not drinking at the time
of the offense 60%
Drinking at the time
of the offense 40%
In alcohol treatment
Never 38%
Ever 62%
Detoxification 6%
In-patient program 5%
Outpatient program 24%
Self-help group 30%
Other 9%
Note: Probationers may have participated in more than one type
of treatment. The self-help groups include Alcoholics Anonymous
(AA) and a variety of other organizations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* About a third of all probationers reported that they had
received some form of alcohol treatment since being placed on
probation. More than 6 in 10 probationers who had been under
the influence of alcohol at the time of their offense said they
had been involved in an alcohol treatment program since entering
probation supervision.
Percent of probationers
receiving treatment after
being placed on probation
Drinking
Type of when com-
program All mitted offense
Any 32% 62%
Crisis/detox 4 9
Self-help
(AA-type group) 24 48
Counseling 8 14
Outpatient 18 38
Inpatient 4 8
Local jail inmates and alcohol use
* As found among probationers, convicted males in local jails
were more likely than convicted females to report alcohol use at
the time of the offense, though the disparity by gender was
smaller (figure 32). For every type of offense, except for
public order crimes, women in jail reported greater use of
alcohol at the time of the offense than was the case for women
under probation supervision in the community (figure 30).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 32. Percent of inmates in local jails who had
used alcohol at the time of their offense, by
offense and sex of offender
Percent of
inmates in local
jails drinking at
the time of the
offense
Men Women
Total 41% 29%
Violent 41 35
Property 35 16
Drugs 29 27
Public-order 57 47
------------------------------------------------------------------
* Across the periodic BJS surveys of jail inmates, the
percentage reporting alcohol use prior to the offense suggests
that violent offenders serving time in 1996 were somewhat less
likely to have been using alcohol when they committed the crime
than in earlier surveys.
Percent of convicted jail
inmates consuming alcohol
prior to the offense
1983 1989 1996
All offenders 48% 41% 40%
Violent 54 47 41
Property 40 31 33
Drugs 29 20 29
Public-order 64 64 56
Sources: BJS, Surveys of Inmates in Local
* Based upon the self-reported drinking behavior at the time of
the offense, about two-thirds of convicted jail inmates who had
been drinking had a BAC of at least 0.10 g/dl at the time of the
offense and nearly three-quarters had BAC's of 0.08 or higher
(figure 33).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 33. Overall, about two-thirds of convicted offenders in
local jails who reported that they had been drinking at the time
of the offense were estimated to have had a BAC level of 0.10 or
higher.
Jail inmates
drinking at the Percent of drinking inmates in estimated BAC levels
time of the offense 0.05 and higher 0.08 and higher 0.10 and higher
All 81% 72% 67%
Violent 81 75 71
Murder 90 86 86
Sexual assault 91 83 83
Robbery 86 85 80
Assault 78 69 65
Property 88 82 76
Burglary 91 83 78
Larceny 91 87 82
Motor vehicle theft 88 81 69
Drugs 66 55 51
Public-order 83 72 67
DWI 84 73 68
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 34. About 6 in 10 convicted jail inmates said that they
had been drinking on a regular basis during the year before the
offense for which they were serving time.
Nearly 2 oiut of 3 of these inmates, regardless of whether they drank daily
or less often, reported having previously been in a treatment program for an
alcohol dependency problem.
Convicted inmates in local jails 100%
Non-drinkers 42%
Drinkers 58%
Daily drinkers 32%
In alcohol treatment
never 35%
ever 65%
Type of program
Detoxification 23%
In-patient program 20%
Outpatient program 7%
Self-help/AA-type program 13%
Other 3%
Drinking less than daily 26%
In alcohol treatment
never 37%
ever 63%
Type of program
Detoxification 15%
In-patient program 19%
Outpatient program 10%
Self-help/AA-type program 13%
Other 6%
Source: BJS, Survey of Inmates in Local Jails,
------------------------------------------------------------------
* About a third of all convicted inmates in local jails
described themselves as having been daily drinkers at the time
of the offense (figure 32). Among these daily drinkers, about 2
out of 3 said that they had previously received some form of
alcohol treatment, with detoxification the most commonly
described intervention. Among those who described themselves as
drinking less often, about 2 out of 3 also reported prior
alcohol treatment participation, most often in an inpatient
program.
* The most recent census of the 3,300 local jails nationwide
(1993) indicates that about 10% of all jails maintain special
housing units for alcohol detoxification. Less than 4% of local
jails in States in the Northeast, however, describe having such
units available for housing inmates in need of alcohol
detoxification.
Number of jails, 1993
With
detox
Region Total facilities
Total U.S. 3,304 324
Northeast 228 8
Midwest 967 82
South 1,591 170
West 518 64
Inmates in State prisons and alcohol use
* The alcohol consumption patterns of State prisoners differ
markedly from jail inmates and probationers; though the
prevalence of drinking is lower, the estimated levels of
intoxication at the time of the offense are higher. A major
departure from other components of the corrections population is
that women inmates report higher levels of intoxication at the
time of the offense than male inmates (figure 33).
* Overall, State prison inmates report having consumed an
average of nearly 9 ounces of ethanol prior to the offense, the
equivalent of about three six-packs of beer or two quarts of
wine. The median time spent drinking prior to the crime was
about 6 hours.
* Intoxication levels vary by the amount of time the offender
spent drinking before the crime but vary little by the
relationship between the victim and offender in violent crimes.
* The extent of alcohol involvement in crime increases if victim
use of alcohol at the time of the offense is included. While
the NCVS does not ask crime victims to indicate if they had been
drinking when the offense occurred, the inmate surveys ask the
offender to indicate if he/she knew if the victim had been
drinking. Among violent offenders in State prisons, 28%
reported that they had been using alcohol at the time of the
offense, 6% report only the victim had been using alcohol, and
8% of violent offenders report that both they and their victim
had been drinking. Manslaughter offenses and offenses directed
against a spouse or intimate were the most likely to have been
alcohol-involved.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 35. Estimated average BAC at the time of the offense
Estimated BAC
levels of State
prison inmates at
time of offense
Male 0.27
Female 0.37
Drinking 1 hour 0.13
2 0.2
3 0.27
4+ 0.34
Strangers 0.29
Family members 0.31
Intimates 0.29
Acquaintances 0.27
--------------------------------------------------------
According to offenders, whether the victim was drinking at the
time of the violent offense:
Offender Victim Both Neither
All offenders 28% 6% 8% 58%
Offense
Murder 25% 10% 13% 52%
Man-
slaughter 27 13 17 43
Rape/
sexual
assault 27 3 8 62
Robbery 29 4 3 64
Assault 29 8 11 52
Victim/offender
relationship
Stranger 30% 5% 7% 58%
Family 23 3 4 70
Spouse/
intimate 27 10 18 45
Acquaintance 26 8 12 54
* Among State prisoners, nearly 3 in 10 described themselves as
daily drinkers during the period preceding their incarceration
(figure 34). By type of offense, there was little variation in
the percentage who described themselves as drinking daily: only
those serving time for drug offenses were less likely to report
regular drinking or drinking daily. Daily drinkers reported
that they began regular drinking earlier, at less than age 17,
and at the time of the offense, they were estimated to have had
the highest average BAC, about 0.30 g/dl.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 36. Just under 30% of State prisoners described
themselves as daily drinkers. Daily drinkers began regular
drinking at the earliest age and had the highest estimated BAC
at the time of the offense for which they were in prison.
Percent of State prison inmates
Most serious offense Non- Daily Weekly Drinking
of State prison inmates Total drinkers drinkers drinkers less than weekly
All 100% 28% 29% 25% 18%
Violent 100 26 30 25 18
Murder 100 24 32 25 19
Manslaughter 100 25 25 33 18
Sexual assault 100 25 29 25 20
Robbery 100 31 29 24 15
Assault 100 23 34 27 17
Property 100 28 3 25 16
Drugs 100 34 23 25 19
Public-order 100 24 32 27 17
Average age began drinking regularly 17.4 yr 16.7 yr 18.0 yr 18.4 yr
Average BAC at the time of the offense 0.27 0.30 0.24 0.22
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 37. Convicted murderers in State prisons reported that
alcohol was a factor in about half the murders they committed.
Those who murdered intimates reported drinking the largest
quantity for the longest period prior to the offense. They were
estimated to have had a comparatively high BAC, about 0.30, at
the time of the murder.
Drinking at the Victims of murderers in State prisons
time of the murder All Stranger Family member Intimate Acquaintance
Total 100 100 100 100 100
Murderer 25 26 14 27 24
Victim 10 8 9 9 13
Both 14 13 13 18 13
Neither 52 53 64 46 50
Average BAC of murder 0.28 0.3 0.24 0.3 0.25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 38. About half of all State prison inmates describing themselves as
daily
drinkers had received some form of treatment in the past. For most the
treatment
was in the form of participation in a self-help group such as Alcoholics
Anonymous
(AA).
Total State prison inmate population 100%
Non-drinkers 28%
Drinkers 72%
Daily drinkers 29%
In alcohol treatment
never 52%
ever 48%
Type of program
Detoxification 2%
In-patient program 12%
Outpatient program 5%
Self-help/AA-type program 28%
Other 1%
Drinking less than daily 43%
In alcohol treatment
never 69%
ever 31%
Type of program
Detoxification 1%
In-patient program 5%
Outpatient program 3%
Self-help/AA-type program 21%
Other 1%
Source: BJS, Survey of Inmates in State Correctional
Facilities, 1991.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* About half the prisoners who described themselves as daily
drinkers prior to entering prison, reported that they had
participated in an alcohol treatment program at some time in
their lives (figure 36).
* Among offenders in State prisons who described themselves as
drinkers, offenders convicted of public-order crimes were the
most likely to report having previously participated in an
alcohol treatment program.
* About a third of daily drinkers in State prisons had
participated in alcohol treatment programs 2 or more times
previously. Since admission to prison, about 1 in 5 offenders
who described themselves as drinkers joined an AA or Al-Anon
type of group.
* In 1995 a BJS census conducted among prisons nationwide
revealed that 1,224 of the 1,375 State correctional facilities
(both confinement facilities and community-based facilities) and
121 of the 125 Federal prisons and halfway houses provided
alcohol dependency treatment programs. Among these 1,345
correctional facilities with alcohol treatment services, 1,075
were traditional confinement facilities and 270 were
community-based primarily serving a pre-release population.
* Among the 1,196 confinement facilities nationwide in 1995, 192
indicated that a central mission of the facility was to provide
drug/alcohol treatment, more than double the number of prisons
providing such services in 1990. Thirty-nine prisons described
their primary function as alcohol/drug treatment.
* In 1995 there were 110 privately operated correctional
facilities in the U.S. under contract to State or Federal
authorities. Among these, 4 facilities, housing an average
daily population of 1,035 inmates, described their primary
function as alcohol or drug treatment.
Appendix I
Formula for calculating BAC
The National Highway Traffic Administration has provided a
formula that permits an estimate of Blood Alcohol Concentration
(BAC) to be made based upon the self-reported drinking behavior
of the offender immediately preceding the commission of the
offense. The formula requires the collection of data from
offenders about the type of beverage consumed, the alcohol
content of that beverage, the quantity consumed, the amount of
time spent drinking, the drinker's gender, and the body weight
of the offender.
The formula for calculating BAC after multiple hours of drinking
(Widmark Formula) is:
BAC(h)=[A/(r * p)/10]-(h* k)
where
BAC=Blood Alcohol Concentration at time h
A=grams of ethanol consumed: which is equal to (liquid ounces of
ethanol * .82)/.035
r=reduced body mass: which is .68 for males and .55 for females
p=weight in kilograms: which is equal to weight in pounds/2.2046
h=hours drinking
K=estimated rate at which the body metabolizes ethanol which is
.015 grams per hour
Based on this formula, a male offender who weighs 173 pounds and
reported consuming 12 beers in 4 hours before the offense would
have an estimated BAC of 0.19 at the time of the crime.
To solve for BAC --
1) 144 ounces beer * 4% alcohol content=5.76 ounces of liquid
ethanol
2) A=(5.76 * .82)/.035=134.95 grams of ethanol
3) p=173 pounds/2.2046=78.47 kilograms
4) r * p=.68 * 78.47 kilograms=53.36 kilograms
5) h * k=4 hours * .015=.06
BAC (4 hours)=[(134.95/53.36)/10]-.06
=(2.527/10)-.06
=.19
Estimated BAC
from consuming two
12-ounce beers
per hour
Hours drinking
at the rate of 173-pound 136-pound
2 beers per hour male female
1 hour 0.03 0.05
2 0.06 0.11
3 0.09 0.16
4 0.12 0.22
Note: The average metabolic rates assume a reduction of 0.015
g/dl per hour.
Appendix II
Liquor law violations on college campuses
Based upon a nationwide survey of postsecondary institutions
carried out by the National Center for Education Statisitics, in
1994 an estimated 13% of 2- and 4-year colleges reported
on-campus arrests for liquor law violations. Liquor law
violations generally include prohibited manufacture, sale, or
possession of liquor and maintaining illegal drinking places but
exclude public drunkenness offenses and DUI/DWI.
An estimated 63% of public 4-year universities reported arrests
for liquor law violations compared to 17% of private 4-year
schools. National estimates of the number of arrests on campus
for 1994 were 20,430. Per capita arrest rates averaged 1.404
per thousand students nationwide but varied substantially by
type of school, residency, size, and location:
Source: Laurie Lewis and Elizabeth Farris, Campus Crime and
Security at Postsecondary Education Institutions, Washington,
D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, January 1997
(NCES 97-402).
Just over half of campus law enforcement agencies at 4-year
universities and colleges with at least 2,500 students report
that they operate alcohol education programs. Generally, the
larger the university the more likely they are to maintain
alcohol education as a special unit or activity. Public
universities (59%) more often reported the availability of such
programs and services than those universities which were
privately operated (43%).
Source: Brian A. Reaves and Andrew L. Goldberg, Campus Law
Enforcement Agencies, 1995, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice
Statistics, December 1996 (NCJ-161137).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Rates of arrest for liquor law violations
per 1,000 students, 1994
Public 2-year .339
Private 2-year .932
Public 4-year 2.837
Private 4-year .595
No campus housing .087
<25% on campus 1.575
25% or more on campus 2.996
<200 students .985
200-999 .336
1,000-2,999 .939
3,000-9,999 1.175
10,000 or more 1.780
Large city campus .775
Mid-size city campus 1.754
Urban fringe campus 1.044
Town/rural campus 2.403
End of file
td 4/98