Targeted Violence Statistics
Relative to other types of violence, targeted violence is uncommon. Targeted violence incidents account for only about 1% of all violent deaths. Although targeted violence occurs infrequently, these types of incidents are important to address for several reasons.
First, targeted violence incidents not only affect those who are targeted, but they may also impact the victims’ families, care givers, peers, co-workers, and neighbors as well as medical personnel, first responders, and others in the community and beyond who learn about these incidents more generally. The families and peers of those who perpetrate targeted violence are also affected. Because of this, these events are sometimes referred to as low frequency, high impact incidents because of the number of individuals affected directly and indirectly.
Second, targeted violence incidents erode social trust. People may no longer feel safe in their communities and consequently may no longer be active community residents. People may fear sending their children to schools, going to work, or doing ordinary activities, like shopping or eating out at restaurants. Not doing these activities impacts one’s quality of life and undermines important aspects of community life that enhance public safety. We will talk more about this when we discuss how residents play a critical role in maintaining healthy communities.
Third, data suggest that targeted violence incidents are on the rise. There is no single data source on targeted violence. However, three data sources that measure elements of targeted violence show cause for concern. The following video highlights recent statistics from these sources. If you would prefer to read the information presented in this video instead of watching the presentation, you can view the key statistics provided below.
Video Summary
Active Shooter Incidents
The Federal Bureau of Investigations collects data on active shooter incidents in the United States. Active shooter incidents are “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” According to these data, there were 40 active shooter incidents in 2020, up from 30 in 2019, 30 in 2018 and 31 in 2017 (FBI, 2020), and markedly higher than the average number of incidents between 2009 and 2016 (19 incidents) and the average recorded by the FBI from 2000 to 2008 (7.4 incidents).
Acts of Terrorism in the United States
According to the Global Terrorism Database maintained by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism, there were 68 incidents in 2019, 75 in 2018, 66 in 2017, and 68 in 2016. These figures are up from an average of 22 incidents from 2000 to 2015.
Hate Crimes in the United States
Hate-crime data reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigations by local and state law enforcement agencies suggest hate crimes have increased year over year. In 2020, there were 8,263 hate crime incidents reported the FBI, up from 7,314 in 2019.