CRIME IN MONTANA - ANNUAL REPORT, 1977

• NCJ Number: 63901
• Author(s): ANON
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 46 pages
• Corporate Author: Montana Board of Crime Control
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

DATA REFLECTING CRIME, CRIME TRENDS, ARRESTS, AND DISTRICT COURT ACTIVITY FOR THE STATE OF MONTANA DURING 1977 ARE PRESENTED IN TABULAR FORM; SOME PREVIOUS DATA ARE INCLUDED FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES.

Abstract

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA CENTER, ESTABLISHED IN 1971, IS THE STATE'S CENTER FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STATEWIDE UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING SYSTEM HAS ENCOURAGED LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTICIPATION IN RECORDKEEPING, DATA COLLECTION, AND DATA ANALYSIS. AT PRESENT, 111 LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES CONTRIBUTE MONTHLY DATA. DISTRICT COURT DATA IS COLLECTED THROUGH THE CLERKS OF THE 19 JUDICIAL DISTRICTS. SEVERAL STATISTICAL MEASUREMENTS ARE USED TO MAKE THE DATA MORE MEANINGFUL. THEY INCLUDE THE CRIME INDEX, CRIME RATE, AND CRIME SERIOUSNESS MEASUREMENTS. COMPARISON OF THE AMOUNT OF CRIME AND ESTIMATED POPULATION FOR THE STATE SHOWS A CRIME RATE OF 4,192 FOR 1977. THIS MEANS THAT 4,192 OUT OF EVERY 100,000 STATE RESIDENTS WERE VICTIMS OF A MAJOR CRIME THAT YEAR. FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 2 YEARS, THE NUMBER OF INDEX CRIMES HAS DECREASED; THE YEARLY TOTAL WAS 31,900. THE MAJOR DECREASE WAS IN PROPERTY CRIMES, WHILE RAPE, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, AND ROBBERY ACCOUNTED FOR A 20.5 PERCENT INCREASE. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY ACCOUNTED FOR 94.1 PERCENT OF ALL KNOWN OFFENSES, CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS FOR 5.9 PERCENT. THE STRAIGHT LINE AND LINEAR LEAST SQUARES REGRESSION METHODS ARE USED IN DEVELOPING CRIME PROJECTION FIGURES. IT IS PREDICTED THAT MONTANA CAN ANTICIPATE A 1980 CRIME RATE BETWEEN 4,803 AND 4,893 IF PRESENT TRENDS CONTINUE. ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS DECREASED DURING 1977, THE PROPORTION OF ADULT TO JUVENILE OFFENDERS HAS REMAINED FAIRLY CONSTANT AT 23 TO 28 PERCENT. THE NUMBER OF DRUG OFFENSE ARRESTS DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. IN 1977, A TOTAL OF 1,418 COURT ACTIONS FOR MAJOR CRIMES WERE RECORDED WITH 277 OR 19 PERCENT DISMISSED AND 34 OR 3 PERCENT ACQUITTED FOR VARIOUS REASONS. IN ADDITION, 1,011 PLED GUILTY AND 96 WERE FOUND GUILTY FOR A TOTAL OF 78 PERCENT CONVICTIONS. TABULAR DATA, GRAPHS, AND CHARTS COMPRISE THE BULK OF THE REPORT. (LWM)