*******

Let’s start with the United States. These are the top crimes committed in the U.S. according to World Atlas with the most common crime being property crime. The data shows the U.S. has an estimated 8.2 million property crimes occurring yearly and around 14,249 murder and non-negligent manslaughter at the time this data was collected.

Motor Vehicle Theft with 9 out of the 10 top cities being in California.

Burglary with 3 out of the top 5 cities being in Ohio.

Larceny with top states being Florida and Arizona.

Robbery with the top city being Oakland, California.

Property Crime with the top city being Tucson, Arizona.

Aggravated Assault with the top city being Detroit, Michigan.

Violent Crime with the top city being Detroit, Michigan.

Rape with the top city being Anchorage, Alaska.

Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter with the top city being St. Louis, Missouri.

*******

Most of us have heard about the correlation economic inequality and criminal activity. Here are some statistics and information from The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and compiled by Amber Pariona. The complete restructuring of the criminal justice and law system is an immense task and until we do it, countries will face the same kind of problems year after year like murder. Here are the countries with the highest and lowest murder rates. The words in red are my own.

In El Salvador 61.8 out of 100,000 people are killed and these deaths are related to gang activity. Put this into better perspective, you have a 0.06 percent of being killed. While any death is not good, the probability is lower than 1% and gets lower as we go down the list. You have a better chance of getting killed in a car accident in any state of the U.S.. For those of you who don’t live in the U.S., count yourself lucky because there are bad drivers in every state.

In Jamaica 57 out of 100,000 people were killed. They are the result of organized criminal activity.

In Venezuela 56.3 out of 100,000 people were killed. The capital of Caracus is one of one of most dangerous cities in the world.

In US Virgin Islands 49.26 out of 100,000 people were killed.

Honduras 41.7 out of 100,000 people were killed. The capital of San Pedro Sula is where much of the violence occurs.

In Lesotho 41.2 out of 100,000 people were killed and most of the crime happens in urban areas including the capital city of Maseru.

In Belize 37.9 out of 100,000 people were killed.

In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 36.46 out of 100,000 people were killed.

In South Africa 35.9 out of 100,000 people were killed.

In Saint Kitts and Nevis 36.46 out of 100,000 people were killed.

*******

Let’s look at some of the countries with the lowest murder rates and the population ranges from around 5.5 million to 1.4 billion. The chances of getting killed in these countries is very unlikely.

In Singapore 0.2 out of 100,000 people will be killed. That is 20% of one person and 0.0002 percent chance of getting killed out of a population of 5,638,700 people.

In Japan 0.2 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 126,150,000 million.

In Switzerland 0.5 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 8,570,146.

In United Arab Emirates 0.5 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 9,599,353 million.

In South Korea 0.6 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 51,709,098 million.

In Czech Republic 0.6 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 10,649,800 million.

In China 0.6 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 1.4 billion.

In Austria 0.66 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 8,857,960 million.

In Italy 0.67 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 60,359,546 million.

In Spain 0.70 out of 100,000 people will be killed. It has a population of 46,733,038 million.

*******

These are the most commonly committed crimes in the world by List10 and compiled by Amber Gilbert with theft having the most offenses.

Domestic Violence

Rape

Fraud

Prostitution

Murder

Robbery

Illegal Drugs

Traffic Related

Assault

Theft

*******

These are the top crimes committed by teenagers and student according to The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and compiled by Global Youth Justice with theft having the most offenses.

Traffic Violations

School Disciplinary Offenses

Curfew Violations

Tobacco Offenses

Marijuana Possession

Simple Assault or Battery

Disorderly Conduct

Alcohol Offenses

Vandalism

Theft

*******

Let’s go back to the U.S. and look at the most common criminal offenses compiled by Ivey McClellan with Drug Related Offenses being on the top. David J. Kramer listing the most common crimes with Larceny/Theft being on the top. The FBI states a property crime is reported every 3 seconds and a violent crime every 22 seconds. Property crimes are ten times more likely to happen than violent crimes.

Drug Related Offenses includes possession of controlled substances or illicit drugs for your personal use or intent to sell; drug paraphernalia; drug distribution and/or trafficking; manufacture of drugs; and cultivation of drugs.

Theft includes larceny, embezzlement, extortion, and fraud.

Burglary is the act of entering a building unlawfully, with the intent to steal, rape, murder, or commit any other felonious offense.

Robbery involves direct threatened contact with one or more victims.

Assault is any act that creates intimidation or apprehension. Battery is any harmful, offensive, or sexual contact forced upon another individual.

Sex Crimes includes rape, prostitution, molestation, statutory rape, child enticement and sexual abuse, child pornography, sexting, and obscenity.

Disorderly Conduct includes public intoxication; loitering; fighting; unreasonable noise making that continues after a request to cease; disrupting a lawful assembly; and unlawful assembly with intent to disturb the peace or engage in tumultuous conduct are examples of disorderly conduct.

Vandalism or deliberate damage or destruction to either public or private property.

Forgery includes passing bad checks and writing checks on someone else’s bank account without their knowledge or consent.

Traffic offenses includes speeding and reckless driving, driving while impaired (DWI) by alcohol and/or prescription drugs.

*******

Larceny/Theft is the most common crime with 7 million thefts reported each year. It represents 60% of all reported crimes.

Burglary is the second most popular crime and often involves entering a building and the intent to commit a crime. Burglary reports are around 2 million each year. It represents 18% of all reported crimes.

Car Theft is a lucrative crime where more than 1 million cars are stolen every year. It represents more than 10% of all reported crimes.

Aggravated Assault is a violent crime where there is an attack with the intent to cause grave injury to another person. It represents 7% of all reported crimes.

Robbery involves violence to another person such as a mugging or a liquor-store stick-up. It represents 3% of all reported crime.

*******

Let’s end with white collar and federal crimes. In terms of the U.S., the difference between state and federal crimes is that one violates state laws and the other violates federal statutes. As you probably know, law is a complex entity. There are misdemeanor and felonies in both state and federal offenses. Federal crimes list is compiled by Michael Berg (no relation) and statistics and further information by Brett A Podolsky.

Tax evasion

Mailbox destruction

Espionage

Gun law violations

Computer hacking

Terrorism-related crimes

Kidnapping

White collar crime can be bank fraud, identity theft, antitrust violations, and bankruptcy fraud, counterfeiting, securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, etc.

Immigration law violations such as visa overstays, entering illegally, immigrant smuggling. The federal courts handled about 30,000 immigration prosecutions in 2011 (a little outdated).

Drug crimes involve drug trafficking and with the high level of offenders in prison, almost 6,000 offenders were released in 2015 due to the new guidelines set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Weapons crimes are those in possession who aren’t legally permitted to carry them. About 93% of offenders receive prison sentences compared to 72% for non weapons crimes.

Sex crimes can be child pornography, human trafficking, sex abuse, repeated sex crimes, etc.

There are white collar crimes committed and prosecuted at the state level. Some examples are below and that is how I will end this post. As you can see, there’s a lot of criminal activity in the world and some are more severe than others. I think anyone would say, on average, murder is worse than most crimes although some might differ. It depends on the severity and length in some cases.

Auto Insurance Fraud

Embezzlement

Health Care Fraud

Medi-Cal Fraud

Mortgage Fraud

Probation Violations

Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Workers Compensation Fraud

Okay, I lied. I will officially end with some statistics. Three crimes could get you the death penalty in the U.S. and depends on what state: piracy, treason, and murder. There are mandatory sentences that some think are unfair because 80% of them relate to drug offenses. Talk about the War on Drugs continued failure. Weapons crimes offenses will get 5 to 10 years on the first offense and don’t be using silencers or act like Machine Gun Kelly (not the rapper) because it adds a lot of years to your sentence. Remember Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheming? He received a 150 year prison sentence plus a forfeiture of 17 billion dollars. The worst thing he did to his family on a personal level was causing the suicide of his son in 2010 and obviously, the thousands of people and organizations he victimized. Basically, be aware of your surroundings including your money, but have a little trust in others so you don’t fear getting clubbed over the head on a daily basis.