This is an old Zoltar Speaks! blog post.
This blog was only posted as an spot for additional information for an argument on Ethics Alarms.
The chart above is representing the crime rates from 1960 to 2015 using the FBI UCS Annual Crime Reports. This chart is based on the data obtained from the data on this page. There is some erroneous calculations in a couple of lines of data; however, those errors only create a negligible change in the percentages for that year and do not change the overall values listed below for low, high, or difference.
Here is a link to chart so you can see the whole thing.
MAXIMUM = 5.95%
MINIMUM = 1.89%
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAX AND MIN = 4.06%
AVERAGE = 4.26%
CRIME RATE 2015 = 2.87%
A few interesting things to note:
1. Between 1960 and 2015 there was an increase in number of crimes of 172.60% (5,840,997 difference) and yet the percentage difference between the two years is only 0.98% (1960=1.98%, 2015=2.87%)
2. There was a 37.97% decrease in the number (5,647,703 decrease) of crimes since between 1991 and 2015.
3. The difference between the average and the maximum is only 1.69% and the difference between the minimum and the average is 2.37%; using those values, there isn’t much change from the average of 4.26%.
Overall, the argument that as the population grows the percentage of crimes committed in relation to the overall population doesn’t change much, at least I don’t consider four percentage points a large change, once it exceeds five percent change then we can start talking about a moderate percentage change, a 10% change would be HUGE!
Society's Building Blocks 
