NEW!!! Selected pages from the CRIME IN MARYLAND: 2008 UNIFORM CRIME REPORT

SUMMARY: These featured statistics are taken from Crime in Maryland, the 2008 Uniform Crime Report and represent data collected by law enforcement agencies during the 2008 calendar year. It is important to note that the following statistics only include incidents in which domestic violence was identified as the cause and a police report was written. The Department of Justice estimates that about 25% of domestic violence assaults are actually reported to the police.

A total of 18,926 domestic violence crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies during the 2008 calendar year.

Of the total number of domestic violence crimes reported, 4,144 of them were aggravated assaults, representing 24% of the total reported domestic violence assaults. Examples of aggravated assaults include the use of a firearm, knife, other dangerous weapons, hands or fists.

Non-aggravated, simple assaults accounted for 76% of all reported domestic violence crimes.

75% of reported domestic violence victims were female and 25% were male. 

In looking at the relationship between victim and perpetrator, 31% of victims were wives, 11% of the victims were husbands, 43% of the victims were females assaulted by male cohabitants, 13% were males assaulted by female cohabitants, and nearly 2% of victims were involved in same sex relationships.

The majority of domestic violence victims (60%) were between the ages of 25 and 44 years old.

In examining the racial background of victims, 52% of reported domestic violence victims were white, 45% were black, less than 1% were American Indian or Asian and 2% were of other races. Race selection categories are limited to American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, White and Other.

Over 36% of reported domestic violence crimes occurred on Saturday or Sunday. 49% of domestic violence crimes occurred between the hours of 6:00 PM and 1:00 AM. This would indicate that an intensive period for domestic violence crimes occurs between 7:00 PM and 1:00 AM on Saturday and Sunday.

The use of alcohol, drugs or both by either the perpetrator or the victim was reported in 30% of the documented domestic violence incidents.