Rural crime in Missouri : A case study of four Missouri counties with suggestions for crime prevention measures

Abstract

"Crime is a major concern for all Americans and seems to be increasing at an alarming rate. Yet crime is often considered to be only an urban problem. However, crime is not solely an urban issue for data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that the rate of crime in rural areas has increased more rapidly since 1968 than the rate in urban areas. The rural crime rate as reported by the FBI from its Uniform Crime Report data provided by law enforcement agencies was 779 per 100,000 population in 1968 (Justice Department, p. 58). In just ten years by 1978, this had increased nearly three-fold to 1,997 per 100,000 population (Justice Department, p. 38). In contrast, the rate of crime in urban areas approximately doubled during this period."--from Introduction.