Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9408010013
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN SKORNECK ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
A recent Justice Department report said that nearly 1 million violent crimes occur in the workplace every year, with about 10 percent involving offenders armed with handguns.
That amounts to about one-sixth of all violent crimes in America, an average of 971,500 per year from 1987-92, according to the study released by Lawrence A. Greenfeld, acting director of the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.
But that's to be expected, said Wesley Skogan, professor of political science and urban affairs at Northwestern University.
``The workplace is the place that people in the labor force spend a very significant time of their life,'' Skogan said. ``That's where you are when you're out of bed.
``People spend much less of their time walking around on the streets after dark,'' he said. ``It could be that as a fraction of your waking life, workplace crime is actually quite low.''
An estimated 8 percent of all rapes, 7 percent of all robberies and 16 percent of all assaults occur at work, according to the report, which was based on data from the National Criminal Victimization Survey of U.S. households during those five years.
On average, that meant 13,100 rapes, 79,100 robberies, 264,200 aggravated assaults and 615,200 simple assaults happened at work each year. In addition, 2 million personal thefts and more than 200,000 car thefts occur each year while people are at work.
``When you're at work, your property is more at risk than when you're at home,'' said James Alan Fox, dean of criminal justice at Northeastern University. ``Your pocketbook is on your desk where it might be taken. That won't happen at home.''
The survey has no information on homicides, as it is based only on interviews with victims.
But it is the image of a rampaging gunman that sends shivers down the spines of those who think of work as a safe haven. Information from other studies indicates that 4 percent of all homicides also occur at work.
Jack Levin, Northeastern University professor of sociology and criminology, said the overall level of workplace murder has remained stable, with most committed by strangers in the course of an armed robbery.
``But the revenge murders are on the rise,'' he said. ``That's what's scaring people.''
With the demise of many social ties, work has taken central stage in many people's lives, he said.
``For many people, work is everything, and even the threat of job loss has become the threat of losing everything,'' he said.
This hostility is increased given current economic troubles such as the downsizing of companies, said Andrew Chishom, professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina.
``People are just generally frustrated and extremely anxious about losing their employment positions and not having ready access to other types of jobs,'' Chishom said.
The study found that of the 971,500 victims of violent crime per year, about 159,100, or 16 percent, suffered injuries. That compares with 31 percent of victims of violent crimes away from the workplace.
Violent crime at work cost 1.75 million days of work and more than $55 million in lost wages.
Only 43 percent of people victimized at the workplace reported the incident to police. Thirty-two percent faced an armed offender.
by CNB