Crime Trends 2 California’s Population and Racial Makeup California is the most populated state in the country and it is ranked third in its extensive geographic area. In the state of California, according to the United States Census the population is numbered at 37,253,956. California is truthfully one of the most diverse states in the union that is home to many immigrant families from all around the globe. The racial makeup of the population in California is made up of 14,956,253 (40.1%) white, 14,013,719
(37.6%) Hispanic/Latinos, 4,775,070 (12.8%) Asian, 2,163,804 (5.8%) African American, and
162,250 (0.4%) Native American (U.S. Census 2010). In Sacramento in accordance to the U.S.
Census the population is 472,178 and equally as diverse as it is throughout the state if not more. The population in this city has increase almost thirteen percent this last decade and demographics show that there is an increase of the population every year by an average of 1.2 percent (U.S. Census). Ron Stodghill and Amanda Bower both the writers of “Welcome to
America’s Most Diverse City”, a TIME article state that Sacramento is in fact the most diverse city in the nation. In the article they mention “Sprinkled throughout the streets are more flavors than you can get at a Baskin-Robbins-Mexicans, Africans, Americans, East Indians, Asians, you name it”. In Sacramento the Native American population accounts for just 1.1 percent that is only 5,291. And apposed to every other race who’s numbers and percent have increased throughout the decade, Native Americans have not significantly changed much at all. The reason being that unlike the other races, Native Americans are not immigrants that immigrate to this country from another. California’s Criminal Statistics
In California in accordance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation there were a total of
164,133 violent crimes recorded in 2010. That number has then dropped to 154,944 in 2011, that’s a 5.6 percent decrease. The FBI has also documented a drop of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in 2010 from 1,809 to 1,792 in 2011 that is a 0.9 percent decrease. Other crimes Crime Trends 3 such as rape, robberies, aggravated assault, property crimes, burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft have also dropped significantly from 2010 to 2011. According to Kamala D. Harris, an attorney general for the California Department of Justice noted in her article “Crime in
California in 2011”, that from 2010 to 2011 the violent crime rate per 100,000 population decreased 2.1 percent (422.3 to 413.3) reaching its lowest level since 1968 (411.1). Harris goes on to say that the total arrest rate of 4,092.2 per 100,000 population at risk is 10.2 percent lower than the 2010 total arrest rate of 4559.1. In California last year in 2012 Native Americans were charged with 1,888 felonies and 4,534 misdemeanors. Native Americans that year had a very low crime rate compared to the rest of all the other ethnic groups that year. Native
American were accounted for only 0.5 percent of all the crimes perpetrated last year in
California, 70.6 percent of which were just misdemeanors (Crime in California 2011).
Throughout the country seven of ten Native Americans in local jails for violent crimes had been drinking at the time when they had committed the offence, that is nearly the double rate for the general population. Moreover, Native Americans were imprisoned at a rate of 38% higher than the national average. As stated by the FBI, offences known to law enforcement in
Sacramento in 2011 there were 3,354 violent crimes, 36 murders, 134 forcible rapes, 1,162 robberies, 2,022 aggravated assaults, 18,563