Some light on Minnesota’s “dark figure.”
That's what criminologists call unreported crime.
Dark because they don't know how much there is. But they suspect there's a fair amount.
And that is what the latest Minnesota state crime victim's survey shows.
Six thousand folks responded to researchers led by the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
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Danette Buskovick
The department's director of research Danette Buskovick says the preliminary state 2010 crime victim survey numbers show:
Twelve percent, the highest number of the 6000 respondents, said they were stalked. Eighty one percent said they did not report the stalking incidents to police.
Nine percent of the respondents reported someone else using credit or debit cards with 19 percent reporting the theft and 81 percent not reporting.
People identifying themselves as victims of a scam or a fraud were 7 percent of the respondents. Again, the vast majority, more than 80 percent, did not report the fraud to police.
On the other hand a high number of victims of aggravated assault or a "stickup" or a robbery, 75 percent, said they reported the incident. And nearly three-fourths of motor vehicle theft victims reported the crime.
By the way, the survey results come on the heels of the state's 2010 uniform crime report tabulated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension which shows a nearly 3 percent drop in reported crime.