While it remains evident that Hawaii has been regarded as one of the safest states in the US; characterized by low violent crime rate, different studies have demonstrated that some time back, this state continued to have one of the highest total crime rates, mainly because of high property crime rates. However, in accordance with recent reports by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), there has been a considerable decrease in the violent crime rate ever since its early 1990s crest (Pyrooz et al, 2016). Hawaii has in the past years been observed to attract a great number of people wanting to relocate and begin a new life; some of the determinants behind this relocation being high crime rates in their former states and widespread poverty, plus Hawaii’s high concentration of cultural and entertainment attractions, affordable housing and low unemployment.
Generally, Hawaii currently stands as the 38th most dangerous state, when it comes to violent crime such as murder, robbery, rape and aggravated assault. Unlike in many other states in the US, which measure crime rates by city, Hawaii is known to collect its crime data county by county. In a 2016 report, referred as the Crime in Hawaii, which was published by the state Attorney General’s office, it was noted that Honolulu County accounted for a significant 69.8% of the state’s population and approximately the same percentage of crime. Of all the crimes in 2015, property crimes accounted for 92.7% while violent crimes accounted for 7.3% (Pyrooz et al, 2016).
Moreover, of the violent crimes that were reported in 2015, aggravated assault accounted for 49.6%, robbery accounting for 36.8% and rape accounted for 13% while murder accounted only for 0.6% (Pyrooz et al, 2016). The murder rate in the year 2015 was the lowest in the entire state, with only fifteen murder cases reported. Imperatively, property crime rate has been going down almost every year since the 26.1% in 2006. While the city enjoys a low-crime state in regard to violence, of all the index offenses, larceny has remained the only offense that the city has consistently had a higher crime rate compared with the entire nation ever since 1975 (Dillon, 2014). Furthermore, burglary and auto theft rates have sometimes been lower and sometimes higher compared with the national average. The burglary rate of the City and County of Honolulu measured the lowest in Hawaii and even the lowest in the entire nation.
Introduction
While it remains evident that Hawaii has been regarded as one of the safest states in the US; characterized by low violent crime rate, different studies have demonstrated that some time back, this state continued to have one of the highest total crime rates, mainly because of high property crime rates. However, in accordance with recent reports by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), there has been a considerable decrease in the violent crime rate ever since its early 1990s crest (Pyrooz et al, 2016). Hawaii has in the past years been observed to attract a great number of people wanting to relocate and begin a new life; some of the determinants behind this relocation being high crime rates in their former states and widespread poverty, plus Hawaii’s high concentration of cultural and entertainment attractions, affordable housing and low unemployment.
Honolulu’s Crime Rate
Generally, Hawaii currently stands as the 38th most dangerous state, when it comes to violent crime such as murder, robbery, rape and aggravated assault. Unlike in many other states in the US, which measure crime rates by city, Hawaii is known to collect its crime data county by county. In a 2016 report, referred as the Crime in Hawaii, which was published by the state Attorney General’s office, it was noted that Honolulu County accounted for a significant 69.8% of the state’s population and approximately the same percentage of crime. Of all the crimes in 2015, property crimes accounted for 92.7% while violent crimes accounted for 7.3% (Pyrooz et al, 2016).
Moreover, of the violent crimes that were reported in 2015, aggravated assault accounted for 49.6%, robbery accounting for 36.8% and rape accounted for 13% while murder accounted only for 0.6% (Pyrooz et al, 2016). The murder rate in the year 2015 was the lowest in the entire state, with only fifteen murder cases reported. Imperatively, property crime rate has been going down almost every year since the 26.1% in 2006. While the city enjoys a low-crime state in regard to violence, of all the index offenses, larceny has remained the only offense that the city has consistently had a higher crime rate compared with the entire nation ever since 1975 (Dillon, 2014). Furthermore, burglary and auto theft rates have sometimes been lower and sometimes higher compared with the national average. The burglary rate of the City and County of Honolulu measured the lowest in Hawaii and even the lowest in the entire nation.
Description of Honolulu’s Crime Prevalence using Crime Theories
The prevalence of these crimes in Honolulu might be observed using the economic theories of crime whereby any improvement in legitimate labor market opportunities will always make the aforementioned crimes less attractive (Clarke & Eck, 2016). This prediction is quite relevant in Honolulu’s crimes that involve direct fiscal motivation such as burglary, auto theft and robbery, nonetheless less significant for homicides, rape and assaults. Another model explaining this prevalence is the aging of the baby boomer that represents a profound demographic shift (changing demographics). Honolulu is experiencing a significant growth in the number of visitors; an aspect that encourages the cropping up of new shifts in the crime scenarios characterized by age and race (Thai, 2014).
Conclusion
It is evident that all the crime rates in Honolulu and even the entire Hawaii state have for years overstated simply because of the evident standard procedures that exclude visitor population from the surveys. Studies demonstrate that of all the individuals present in Honolulu on any particular day; that is, the so-termed as the ‘de facto’ population, around twelve percent of this population represent tourists. Therefore, due to the state’s high visitor population at any particular time, it can practically be argued that the accuracy of the crime rate depend on whether the de facto population has been used in these calculations. A de facto population is comprised of the individuals who are physically present, such as: residents, tourists together with the non-resident military personnel. Thus, in view of the state’s comparatively undersized population and an outsized visitor population, the crime rates in Honolulu are skewed to be more advanced simply because the population is only grounded on the residents and has not factored in the city’s visitors.
[...]
- Citar trabajo
- Dr. Mutinda Jackson (Autor), 2017, Crime Statistics for Honolulu, Hawaii, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/703270
