Police Response Time
No matter what some people would say, being a victim isn’t noble or morally superior to being a capable survivor. Predators who select victims based on the expected inability to resist, often desist when even a small number of the expected easy marks give them trouble. For example, where even a few women are known to be armed, all women benefit from the reduction in attempted rapes and other violent crimes. That no external differences indicate which person is defenseless and which isn’t makes all of us safer. When a threat to your safety comes from a hostile human, it is unrealistic to expect that an assault would be postponed long enough to let you call for help … www.a-human-right.com |
Percent distribution of incidents where police came to the victim, by police response time and type of crime. source: U.S. Dept of Justice, 2008. (most recent data available)
Response Time
|
Within 5 min
|
6-10 min
|
11 min to 1 hour
|
Within 1 day
|
Longer than 1 day
|
Length of time unknown
|
Not ascertained
|
Violent Crime *
|
28.3%
|
30.3%
|
33.5%
|
2.5%
|
0.4%
|
5.0%
|
0.0%
|
Robbery
|
32.3%
|
38.8%
|
28.3%
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
0.6%
|
0.0%
|
Aggravated assault
|
20.9%
|
32.6%
|
36.4%
|
4.8%
|
0.0%
|
5.4%
|
0.0%
|
Simple assault
|
31.4%
|
28.0%
|
31.8%
|
2.4%
|
0.1%
|
6.2%
|
0.0%
|
Property crimes
|
12.8%
|
20.2%
|
47.8%
|
12.6%
|
1.9%
|
4.7%
|
0.0%
|
Household burglary
|
13.6%
|
21.8%
|
46.9%
|
12.6%
|
1.9%
|
3.3%
|
0.0%
|
Motor vehicle theft
|
12.5%
|
22.2%
|
49.1%
|
11.5%
|
1.3%
|
3.3%
|
0.0%
|
Theft
|
12.5%
|
18.9%
|
48.0%
|
12.7%
|
2.0%
|
5.9%
|
0.1%
|
* Includes data on rape and sexual assault.