One person is murdered every 31 minutes:
One person is raped every 2.7 seconds;
One person is assaulted every 7.2 seconds;
One person is killed in an alcohol-related traffic crash every 29 minutes;
One child is reported abused or neglected every 35 seconds;
One woman is victimized by an intimate partner every 1.3 minutes;
One home is burglarized every 9.1 seconds;
One person becomes a victim of identity theft every 8.7 seconds.

The above is part of the Crime Clock produced by the National Center For Victims of Crime
as part of their yearly campaign in conjunction with National Crime Victims Rights Week-April 13-19, 2008.

Let's take a good hard look at crime and victimization in the land of the free and the brave:
There are over 23 million crimes committed in our country every year and roughly 20 percent
are classified as violent. Let us also keep in mind that only about 47 percent of violent crime is reported to law enforcement. In 2005 an estimated 16,692 persons were murdered which was an increase of 3.4 percent from 2004. Teenagers accounted for 12 percent of murder victims in 2005. About half of murder victims whose race was known were white and the other half black. The type of weapon used generally was Firearm (73%), Knives(13%), and Personal Weapons like fists for about 6%.

The costs of crime are staggering and economically devasting: In 2005,the total economic loss to victims was $1.4 billion for violent crime and $15.6 billion for property crime.
Victim compenasation programs distributed $427 million to victims of violent crime in 2005.This amount is nearly double the amount reported seven years ago. Crime victims have a much higher lifetime incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder than non victims.

Let's take a good hard look at School Crime and Victimization:
In 2004, students ages 12-18 were victims of 107,400 serious violent crimes at school. School was the most common place for violent victimizations against teens to occur. Almost 40% of American youth have witnessed some semblance of violence.

I could go on and on discussing Sexual Violence, Elder Abuse, Stalking, Workplace Violence and Campus Crimes but it's time to get to the point of these abysmal staggering statistics.

While Terrorism dominates our National Presidential Election there has not been One Single Candidate addressing homegrown terrorism. While it's sad and troubling that approximately 3,000 people were murdered by a major terroristic attack in 2001 we have had over 100,000 of our citizens murdered by home grown terrorists yet no candidate is willing to address this issue. We have a serious crisis in our country when citizens are afraid to go outside, go to the mall, go to school or simply walk outside without the fear of being shot, mugged, sexually assaulted or robbed. Yes, Terrorism is an important issue but what about our home grown crime problem. Somebody needs to step up to the plate and begin offering solutions to preventing crime and assuring crime victims that there needs will be taken care of.
So come on McCain, Huckabee, Paul ?, Obama and Clinton start discussing homegrown terrorism as well as international terrorism.

I and hopefully the rest of my bloggers and other contributors should start demanding our
Presidential Candidates start discussing what they plan on doing to reduce the above staggering statistical blackmark on our society. Crime needs to be on the forefront as the road to the White House moves on. Let's make our voices be heard loud and clear.

If you would like more crime and victimization statistics please go to www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc or www.ncvc.org.