Against the Elderly

For the period 2003–13, elderly persons age 65 or older experienced nonfatal violent crime victimizations at lower rates (3.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 65 or older) than younger persons ages 12 to 24 (49.9 per 1,000), persons ages 25 to 49 (27.6 per 1,000), and persons ages 50 to 64 (15.2 per 1,000) (figure 1). Nonfatal violent crime includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault. Each year, the elderly accounted for approximately 2% of violence and 2% of serious violence, which equals 136,720 violent crimes and 47,640 serious violent crimes. However, the elderly made up about 21% of the population age 12 or older during this time period. The rate of property crime was also lower compared to younger persons.This report uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to provide detailed information on nonfatal violent victimization and property victimization against...