Several years ago, when I began researching violent crime, I was interested in figuring out the circumstances. I figured that if I could understand if there were common violent crime circumstances, I could develop self-defense strategies to mitigate them appropriately. After all, there is no point in preparing for a trip to the Amazon jungle when you actually go to Antarctica.
As this research winded down, I understood that civilian violent crime threats and threats to police officers were different. The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) compiles statistics about Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted (LEOKA). I discuss them in my book. Their lethal threats are armed strangers who were likely arrested for a violent crime prior and are on active justice status, like parole or bail.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume civilian threats are the same. What would our statistics be like if they were? Let’s assume the violent crime rate against police officers is the same as it is against civilians.
- First, since there are millions more concealed carriers than police officers, the number of people justifiably killed by private citizens would be far higher than by police officers.
- Defensive Gun Use (DGU) statistics where the firearm was discharged is the same for civilians as for police officers.
- DGU statistics where the firearm was not discharged are the same for civilians as for police officers.
- Injurious aggravated assault would primarily involve firearms, strangers, and public places.
- Murder would primarily be firearms, strangers, and public places.
As my book goes into detail, the first four are false. Murder, which represented 1.3 percent of all violent crimes in the period studied, shows that around 40 percent of the time, the victim knows the offender. For the other 60 percent, the relationship between the victim and offender is unknown. While the UCR tracks criminal records for LEOKA, it does not track them for the victim or offender in aggravated assault, robbery, rape, or murder. In addition, the UCR does not keep track of victim injury. In short, we do not know how much injurious violent crime is criminals targeting other criminals.
What is clear from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and DGU statistics for civilians, the home and the property of the home are the primary locations of violent crime (around 80 percent). About 80 percent of the time, the firearm is not discharged. Injurious aggravated assault and rape primarily involve people the victim knows, and the location is somewhere the victim feels comfortable. Robbery is the only violent crime that shows a high amount of strangers and public places for both injurious and non-injurious types. However, the most common weapon for both is no weapon at all.
Often, police officers and former polices officers will utilize their experience to indicate that civilians face the same threats as they do. I certainly believe police officers face the threats they face. Unfortunately, I cannot find any data showing civilians face the same threats. In all honesty, this is a call for celebration. Why?
Well, in general, police officers are better trained and have more experience than civilians who carry a concealed firearm (CCF). Even though they have better training and experience, they are not very accurate shooters overall (as I detailed in another post). I would expect civilians to do much worse. Furthermore, civilians who CCF do not have the legal protections of police officers, which can easily lead to criminal charges even if the civilian tried to do the right thing.
Using our best statistics, civilians should improve the security of their homes and the property around the home and weed out risky people from their lives. However, suppose you believe civilians and police officers have the same threats. In that case, you’ll be adopting a CCF strategy and likely forgo improving the security of your home and the property of the home. One path is a superior self-defense strategy.
Please note that violent crimes against civilians are still dangerous and can be deadly. I’m certainly not saying they are trivial. What I am saying is that the circumstances are different, and civilians must plan their self-defense strategies differently than police officers.