NY vs London Crime Rate Statistics Report

Crime Rates in New York, USA compared to London, UK Statistics Report Table of Contents Page No. 1.0 Executive Summary 2.0 Introduction 3.0 Methods of Data Analysis 4.0 Presentation and Analysis of Data 2 3 3 3 4.1 Murder 4-5 4.2 Rape 5 4.3 Robbery 6 4.4 Motor Vehicle Theft 7 5.0 Reliability of Data 8 6.0 Conclusions 8-9 7.0 References 9 1.0 Executive Summary This report presents, compares and analyses statistics for different types of violent and property crime in London, UK and New York City, USA. The report looks specifically at how the presence of guns in the USA influences levels of various crimes in comparison to the UK, where guns are illegal. The report will show that, due to the presence of guns, murder rates in the USA are higher but the rates of some other crimes are lower. 2.0 Introduction In this report, I aim to investigate the differences in crime rates in a major city in the UK versus a major city in the USA. The two cities I have chosen are London in the UK and New York in the USA. I chose these cities as they are the two biggest and most iconic cities in their respective countries. The two cities also have very similar populations. The population of London is estimated at 8,673,713 (Ons.gov.uk, 2016)and the population of New York is estimated at 8,550,405 (factfinder.census.gov, 2015). The fact that the populations are so similar makes it easier to make fair comparisons between the two cities. This report will focus on the rate of violent crimes. Violent crimes include murder, rape and robbery. However, I will also look at property crime, such as motor vehicle theft. My reason for comparing these two cities is that there is a common belief that, mainly due to the presence of guns, US cities are more dangerous and have higher crime rates than those in the UK. This will report will investigate if that belief is justified and, if so, to what extent. The report not just look at gun crime but also related crimes to see if the presence of guns has a secondary affect on other types of crime. I will aim to use the most reliable and accurate sources available for my report, in order to make it as interesting and meaningful as possible. 3.0 Methods of Data Analysis I have chosen to use graphs to display the raw data that I have collected for this report. I used excel to organise my raw data and create my graphs. Graphs provide a visual representation of the data that is easy to interpret and analyse. 4.0 Presentation and Analysis of Data This section of the report will present my findings for each of the various types of crime I have chosen to investigate. I will then analyse the possible reasons for the results. 4.1 Murder The first crime rate I have chosen to analyse is that of murder. Figure 1 shows the number of murders per year from 2009 to 2015. Murder by Year 2009-2015 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 London 2013 2014 New York Figure 1 (maps.met.police.uk, 2016) (Newsday, 2016) It is clear to see that the number of murders per year is considerably higher in New York than in London. In the most recent year the number of murders in London was 118 (maps.met.police.uk, 2016) compared to 352 in New York (Newsday, 2016). To remove bias for population size, I used these results to calculate a murder rate per 100,000 people. For 2015, the murder rate in London was 1.36 per 100,000 people compared to 4.12 in New York. This shows the murder rate in New York is roughly 300% higher than in London. It can also be seen that the number of murders in New York has been decreasing considerably since 2011. One of the main reasons for this disparity in murder rate is the presence of guns in the USA. The State of New York does have tighter gun controls than most, requiring people to have a permit for their weapon. This permit can be obtained by applying to the New York Police Department (Nyc.gov, 2017). However, people who use their firearms for murder are unlikely to have gone through the permit application process and instead obtained them illegally. The decreased murder rate since 2011 suggests that, newly introduced, tighter gun control regulations have been effective. The inflated murder rate can be attributed to the presence of guns on the streets of New York. As of October 2014, there had been 789 people shot, ranging from minor injury to death, in the previous three and a half years in London (Evening Standard, 2014). This is stark contrast to New York, where approximately 1390 people were shot in 2014 alone (NY Daily News, 2015). Looking at this in terms of the number of people shot per month, we see that London had on average 19 shootings per month in comparison to 116 in New York. From these results, it is clear the UK’s no gun law has a profound effect on reducing gun crime. It is worth noting that there is much more gang related violence in New York than in London and the murder rate could be inflated because of this. 4.2 Rape 2015 Another crime rate which could be analysed is that of rape. Figure 3 shows the amount of reported rapes per year between 2009 and 2015. Rape by Year 2009-2015 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 0 1000 2000 3000 London 4000 5000 6000 New York Figure 2 (maps.met.police.uk, 2016) (Newsday, 2016) The graph shows that there are considerably more incidents of rape in London than in New York. The average number of rapes per year in London is 3,929 which is over three times the average of 1,221 in New York. The graph also shows a spike in the number of reported rapes from 2013-2015 in London and in 2015 in New York. The reason for the lower number of rapes in New York is that American women tend to be more aware of this crime and thus prepared. Personal defence systems such as pepper spray and rape alarms are far more frequently carried by American women than women from the UK. Rapists will also be deterred by the fact that around 23% of American women own a gun for personal defence (nrablog.com, 2011). The spike in recent years may not be because of in an increase in the number of incidents of rape, but instead an increase in the number of incidents reported. There has been increased awareness of rape and more support available for victims. A study found that 80% of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported (Telegraph.co.uk, 2012). This is because the victims often choose not to go to the police as it is too traumatic. However, in recent years’ campaigns have encouraged women not to be afraid to report the crime, and have reassured them that they will be offered support and protection if they choose to come forward. 4.3 Robbery The next crime rate I am going to analyse is robbery, which is ‘theft with the use or threat of force’ (MET Police, 2017). It is important to make this distinction from crimes like burglary and larceny, as these forms of theft do not involve the use or threat of force. Figure 3 shows the number of robberies in the two cities from 2009 to 2015. Robbery by Year 2009-2015 New York London 45000 40000 3500033480 38889 35857 34740 28254 30000 25000 2000018597 19608 19773 20201 19170 21910 21571 16581 16946 2014 2015 15000 10000 5000 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Figure 3 (maps.met.police.uk, 2016) (Newsday, 2016) The statistics on the graph show that there are fewer robbery incidents in New York than in London. The graph also shows that there has been a large decrease in the number of robberies in London since 2011. In fact, there was an approximate 45% decrease in robberies between 2011 and 2015. However, despite the decrease the figure is still higher than New York. The presence of guns could be a major reason for this reduced robbery rate in New York. People can defend themselves with the use of force, in the form of a firearm, against potential robbers. Thieves will be more cautious about threatening people with the intent to rob them as there is the possibility that the person they attempt to rob will be armed. The US constitution permits citizens the right to bear arms and defend themselves and thieves will be aware of this. 4.4 Motor Vehicle Theft Motor Vehicle Theft differs from the other types of crime this report has discussed. This is because it is not a violent crime but instead, a property crime. Figure 4 shows the number of reported motor vehicle thefts from 2009-2015. Motor Vehicle Theft by Year 2009-2015 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 New York 2013 2014 London Figure 4 (maps.met.police.uk, 2016) (Newsday, 2016) The graph shows that there are considerably more incidents of motor vehicle theft in London than in New York. It can also be seen that the number of incidents in New York is steadily decreasing, whereas the number of incidents in London has remained around the same since 2012. A potential reason for this huge disparity is that US cars are equipped with more hitech anti-theft features. Stolen cars are also easier to move and sell in the UK as there aren’t state borders and toll systems like in the US. However, much like robbery, the fact that many Americans are armed is also likely to be a big factor behind the reduced level of motor vehicle theft. 2015 5.0 Reliability of Data All the raw data on crime rates I used was from maps.met.police.uk for statistics on London and Newsday for statistics on New York. I consider these sources as reliable enough to base my report around. The London data was perhaps more reliable as it came directly from the Metropolitan Police website, so there is likely to be no bias whatsoever. The New York data did not come direct from the NYPD but instead from Newsday, a daily newspaper for New York City. I did some research and discovered the paper has a good reputation and can be trusted as a reliable source. However, it must be considered that it is a news outlet and there could be some bias in the data displayed. I used government agencies for population stats as I felt eliminating any possible bias here was very important. This is because one of my main reasons for choosing these two cities was that the populations were so similar. Any other sources I used were organisations or news outlets that I deemed trustworthy, but it should be borne in mind that there could well be some bias in their reports. 6.0 Conclusion This report has shown that the belief that cities in the US have more crime and are more dangerous than cities in the UK is not necessarily true. Although the murder rate in New York is higher than in London, the levels of all other crimes I looked at are considerably lower. The fact that American citizens can arm themselves for self-defence is clearly a large deterrent to people wishing to bring them harm. Thieves in the US are not only risking prison time, but also their lives, which is a massive deterrent. This is obviously not the case in the UK and goes a long way to explaining why rates of both robbery and motor vehicle theft are higher. Women who choose to carry a weapon eliminate the physical advantage men are likely to have over them, allowing them to defend themselves. However, because American citizens can arm themselves, it inevitably means that there are more murders. A firearm makes it capable for anyone to commit a murder as it removes the physical aspect. In conclusion, as murder is considered the worst type of crime, the belief that US cities are more dangerous is probably justified. Due in large part to guns, the murder rate is considerably higher in New York than in London. However, the US could never make guns illegal, as they are in the UK, as all this would achieve is to remove guns from law-abiding citizens. The people who would give up their firearms are the people who had no intention of using them for criminal purposes. People would no longer be able to defend themselves against armed criminals and levels of all types of crime would increase. The statistics displayed in this report show that controlled gun-ownership has its merits as it allows citizens to defend themselves against many types of crime. If the US can do more to stop guns falling into the wrong hands then the murder rate is likely to decrease, which it already has by 34% in New York from 2010 to 2015.