NCJ Number
81512
Date Published
1980
Length
413 pages
Annotation
The official police crime statistics for the West German city of Hamburg in 1980 are reported.
Abstract
The statistical overview shows that 203,700 crimes were reported, up 10.7 percent from the previous year. A good deal of the rise is attributed to increases in petty crimes such as bicycle thefts. Although the number of violent crimes increased 14 percent, the ratio of violent crimes to the total number of crimes remained the same. Of violent crimes, severe bodily injury and robbery increased most rapidly. Robberies of businesses and banks decreased in number. Other areas of substantial crime rate increase were thefts with complicating circumstances, white-collar crimes such as securities fraud, offenses against public order, violations of laws governing foreigners, and drug offenses, including smuggling. Sexual crimes excluding rape, which is now categorized as a violent crime, decreased by 20 percent. The crime clearance rate dropped from 41.8 to 4.06 percent, probably because of the increase in bicycle thefts, which are rarely solved, and because of new laws protecting the private sphere of citizens from police intervention. The number of suspects apprehended rose by 7.3 percent to 68,695. The proportion of foreign suspects rose from 13.6 to 15.6 percent. Extensive tables contain statistics on frequency of particular crime groups, offenses with weapons, victims, regional distribution of offenses, damages, clearance rates, suspects' characteristics, and offenders' nationality. Figures for individual classes of crimes are also presented and discussed. Graphs, maps, a glossary of terms, and a list of offense types are included.