An Analysis of National Data on the Prevalence of Alcohol Involvement in Crime

The extensive and far-reaching impacts of alcohol abuse on crime and public safety are only now achieving widespread public policy attention. This report was prepared to provide statistical information as background for the Assistant Attorney General's 1998 National Symposium on Alcohol Abuse and Crime, which will address many of these policy issues and discuss approaches that may help alleviate these problems.

Based on this compilation and new analysis of data on alcohol and crime, we know that nearly 4 in 10 violent victimizations involve use of alcohol, about 4 in 10 fatal motor vehicle accidents are alcohol-involved; and about 4 in 10 offenders, regardless of whether they are on probation, in local jail, or in State prison, self-report that they were using alcohol at the time of the offense.

There are, however, a number of positive indicators that alcohol-related crime is generally decreasing and that most of those in need of treatment are receiving it. Violence between current and former spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends is especially likely to involve alcohol abuse, and all forms of violence against intimates, including homicide, have been declining in recent years. In addition, rates of arrest for DUI have declined by 24% since 1990. During the last 10 years, the number of highway fatalities attributable to alcohol-related accidents has dropped by about 7,000 annually, a 29% decrease.

This report uses a wide variety of sources, including statistical series maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. We are grateful for the cooperation of these agencies and also want to thank the many respondents to our surveys throughout the country.

We anticipate that more on the issue of alcohol and crime will be available in the near future as new data collections by BJS, including the 1997 Survey of Inmates of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, are analyzed. BJS has incorporated new questions into its surveys which will enable a more in-depth understanding of the alcohol use and abuse backgrounds of offenders and the nature of the treatment they receive while incarcerated.

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