NCJ Number
212111
Date Published
September 2005
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This report presents a statistical summary of arrests reported for 2003 and 2004 by West Virginia's 16 multijurisdictional task forces that received funding under the Drug and Violent Crime Control Grant Program (Byrne).
Abstract
These task forces bring together Federal, State, county, and/or local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to facilitate interagency coordination of the investigation and prosecution of drug and violent crimes. Since drug and violent crime arrests are also made by other State, county, and local law enforcement officers who are not connected with the task forces, this report does not provide data on all arrests for drug and violent crimes in the State for 2003 and 2004. In 2003, task forces made 949 arrests for drug and violent offenses, and in 2004 there were 1,166 such arrests. For each year, the number of arrests are shown by task force. Data on the characteristics of arrestees indicate that just over 75 percent of arrests in both years were male, with both White and non-White males overrepresented compared with their proportion in the State's population. Females accounted for 24.7 percent of arrestees, with non-White females overrepresented and White females underrepresented. Arrestees were typically between 25 and 34 years old. Nearly 50 percent of those arrested in 2003 had been previously arrested; and in 2004, 28.9 percent had prior drug-related arrests; prior arrests for violent crimes were reported for 9.6 percent of arrestees. A total of 3,290 offenses were charged against arrestees in 2003 and 2004 combined. In 2004, the only year in which arrests for violent and drug crimes were distinguished, only 1.9 percent of the offenses reported were for violent crimes. Crack cocaine, marijuana, and other opiates accounted for two-thirds of all reported arrests for drug offenses in 2003-2004. Data are also provided on dispositions and penalties. 8 figures and 5 tables