States with high murder rates have larger veteran populations

A few years ago there were a series of relatively high profile news stories about war veterans that were coming back and committing a lot of crimes including murder. A couple of the highest profile of these stories may have been Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles and Wash. Post: Sharp Rise in Violent Crimes Cited Among Returning Iraq Veterans in Colo. Unit. They probably didn’t explore all the data that was available to them at the time but there is more to indicate that veterans might be more predisposed to violent crime than non-veterans outside of inner cities where crime is at its highest.

A close look at these articles clearly indicates that it isn't the vast majority of veterans; however in some cases exaggerations have been made to give people that impression. But it is a large problem and appears to be more than they might otherwise have been if not for their experiences in the military; and it should be worth a closer look that could lead to policy changes that would reduce these problems.

This has often been interpreted as a smear on our veterans; however a closer look at some of the statistics, including some that point in both directions, and the recruitment and training methods used might raise doubts about whether or not this is an appropriate way of looking at it. It might also indicate part of the reason why some of these veterans might be more predisposed to violent crime.

However, it also seems to reinforce the claims that veterans have higher murder rates than most non-veterans, with the exception of minorities in abandoned inner cities, who are also victims of foolish policies that decline to provide basic needs for a functional society.

If you compare the veteran rates for the ten states with the ten highest murder rates with the ten states with the ten lowest murder rates it is clear that the states with the higher murder rates usually have higher veteran’s rates. The ten states with higher murder rates, 7 per hundred thousand on average, have slightly more than 2.1% of their populations that are Gulf War era veterans but the states with the lowest murder rates, 1.8 per hundred thousand on average, have slightly less than 1.9% of their populations that are Gulf War veterans.

However if you reverse it and compare the rates of the states with the ten highest percentage of veterans with those that have the ten lowest it seem to come to different conclusions; they both have below average murder rates and the states with more veterans have slightly lower murder rates than those with the lowest percentage of veterans. Expanding beyond the top ten states would reverse the percentage though and the states with high veterans’ population would have higher murder rates and they would quickly go above average.

The reason for this is almost certainly the locations they recruit from and because they’re not supposed to recruit people with felony convictions. The ten state with the highest recruitment rates are rural areas with very low populations, mostly in the North West, Alaska, and Virginia. The ten states with the lowest recruitment rates include some of the most densely populated states and a higher percentage of people in large cities. The highest crime rates are typically in large cities especially those with abandoned inner cities that don’t provide many educational or employment opportunities for their people.

According to Wikipedia's United States cities by crime rate, which is based on FBI statistics large cities have much higher murder rates and rates of other crimes as well. A large percentage of these large cities have more than twice the national average rates for murder (in 2012 it was 4.7 per hundred thousand) and a few of them have more than ten times as much. However they have far lower recruitment rates than rural areas, according to the charts at the bottom of this page most of them are in states that have lower recruitment rates and this article, Largest Share of Army Recruits Come from Rural/Exurban America, reinforces that conclusion. According to Rural America Supplies More Recruits to the Military in 2009 "more than 44 percent of military recruits came from rural areas, according to Pentagon figures. In contrast, only 14 percent came from major cities."

This means that they should be starting out with recruits that should be less disposed to committing crime. This wasn’t always the case; during previous wars many judges often told defendants "Join the Military, or go to jail;" which almost certainly provided a major contribution to the amount of crimes committed by veterans after they came out of the military. But now they ban people with significant criminal records unless they get a waiver.

This should mean that military veterans would be less predisposed to crime and for the most part they are in 2004,10% of State prisoners reported prior service in the U.S. Armed Forces, down from 12% in 1997 and 20% in 1986. The veteran population is much higher among older people and men, In U.S., 24% of Men, 2% of Women Are Veterans but among men aged 25 to 34 it is only 12% and among those over 65 it is over 50%.

According to the accompanying press article to this release the rate of incarceration for veterans is less than half of the rate of non-veterans. They base their rates on rates per hundred thousand males only; which they claim is 630 prisoners per 100,000 veterans, compared to 1,390 prisoners per 100,000 non-veteran U.S. residents. This is explained mainly by age since more than two thirds of veterans are over fifty-five. However if they compared prison populations from the same rural areas that they recruit from this lower rate of incarceration would almost certainly be much smaller, if it isn't eliminated. A large percentage of the prison populations is almost certainly from the inner cities that the military is less inclined to recruit from.

However one segment of these inner cities that is apparently encouraging their members to join the military when they can are gangs according to Military-Trained Gang Members Worry FBI, Oklahoma Law Enforcement. According to FBI gang investigator Jennifer Simon 1-2% of the U.S. military belongs to gangs. This almost certainly comes as a surprise to many people; including me. After looking at statistics on recruiting areas that are mostly not the same as high gang areas and reviewing policies that are supposed to exclude people with criminal backgrounds it seems unlikely that they would recruit many people from gang territories. However perhaps this shouldn't be quite so surprising since gangs and the military both adopt many of the same authoritarian tactics to encourage obedience and loyalty, which I'll review more in a follow up post.

Another major problem that should be given serious attention is the fact that the United States now keeps more than 1% of our adult male population in jail at any given time. If you add the population from county jails it is probably closer to 2% and it is much worse for minorities.

This may not be solely a veteran problem but it does indicate something seriously wrong.

Another part of the reason for this seems to be race; more than half of veterans in prison are white while only one third of non-veterans are white. A large portion of the increase in the prison population over the last several decades has been disproportionally black; and a major reason for this is that they more likely to be imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses. This report compares veterans with non-veterans without adequately considering the disproportionate percentage of minorities in prison or that they avoid recruit much less in areas, mainly abandoned inner cities, where crime rates are much higher. The press release also makes a point to say that the percentage of veterans in prison are declining steadily; but when you go into the actual report it indicates that a major part of the reason for that is because the percentage of the public that are veterans are also declining.

They make a point of highlighting the lower substance abuse problems among veterans but what they don't mention is that due to the drug war they're rounding up large numbers of people, mostly minorities, because of drug problems, which would make the prison population more inclined to have people with substance abuse problems.

Veterans were also more likely to be in prison for violent offenses. This includes 15% of state inmates that were incarcerated for homicide compared to 12% of non-veterans. That comes to about 19,125 veterans charged with murder or if the same rate applies to federal prisoners it could be 2,100. Once again if they compared it to the same rural population they recruit from then the 3% difference of inmates in jail for murder would almost certainly be larger, since the highest rates of murder are in cities, not rural areas. 

According to this report 3.7 percent of the veterans in state prison and 4.5 percent in federal prison had served since operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq; however this was based on the prison population in 2004. The number of soldiers that served in Afghanistan was lower than those that served in Iraq but this was only one year after the war in Iraq began, so this should be considered a high percentage of the prison population under the circumstances. This comes to approximately 5,280 Gulf War and Afghanistan veterans that wound up in jail within a year or two of their discharge, assuming they were discharged. This doesn't include county jail prisoners; if the percentages are the same for minor offenses there were probably an additional 60,000 veterans there in 2004 and that might come to about 2,400 additional Gulf War and Afghanistan veterans.

The high number of veterans that were in jail after only a year or two after the wars began clearly indicates a large jump that could have been looked at closer but the report declines to do so. Instead they highlight the statistic that veterans are less than half as likely to be in jail in the title; and readers don't find out that it is due to age until they get further into it and unless they do the math they won't realize that there is evidence of a spike in the population after recent fighting abroad and the returning veterans.

The articles from the New York Times, Washington Post and Colorado Springs Gazette are all more recent so even though they're not statistically representative they probably indicate the results of increased crime as a result of these wars more than the Bureau of Justice statistics; however the last two reports are seven years apart, which might mean that the next report could come out any time now. Also since the highest rates of recruits come from rural areas where there aren't normally as many crimes as in large cities it shouldn't be hard to research how many of the most violent crimes, including murders are committed by veterans and find out if they're more than their percentage of the population.

The New York Times claims that they found 121 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that were charged with murder. They also did a review, using the same methods of searching newspaper articles and following them up checking military court records, for six years before and after 2001 for all veterans, whether they saw combat or not and found an increase to 349 from 184. This indicates that there might be more murders from veterans that didn't see combat or those that saw combat in past wars, and that it might be increasing. However there is no guarantee that newspapers reported them consistently. They claim that neither the military or the Justice Department track of it but the report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that they do keep partial records although they don't issue their reports often and I didn't find the details that must be behind the report that they released to the public.

The same methods the New York Times used could be used by anyone and they will indicate an enormous number of reports that took place since then.

Part of the reason for high rates of violent crime among veterans might be partly due to Recruitment of felons, with waivers, being up in U.S. Army and Marine Corps; however this is still less than one percent of their recruits so it shouldn't have to large an impact.

The reports from the Washington Post and New York Times articles focuses on veterans that were involved in combat; however according to the statistics even though most of the veterans in prison served during war time only 20% of state and 26% of federal prisoners saw combat. For these veterans combat related post-traumatic stress disorder clearly wouldn't be a contributing factor, however their training could still be a factor.

When it comes to determining the root causes of violent crime, or any other kind of crime, statistics may not be the most effective way of figuring it out; although if other research does indicate what the root causes of it are statistics might help to confirm it since they can cross check the statistics with the other research. This is especially important when it comes to controversial subjects where many people may be reluctant to acknowledge the result of the research when it doesn't agree with their beliefs or agendas.

I'll review some of this in another follow up post which will include some of the claims that these articles are misrepresenting veterans and that the link with veterans and crime is a "myth."

There is an enormous effort to defend the vets and declare that there is nothing to this; but the evidence doesn't indicate that. However, if the common cause for these higher crime rates is their military service then it indicates that something in their training and combat experience might be a contributing cause, whether it is PTSD or not and the main problem might be the leaders that control their training and make decisions about wars especially since most, if not all wars are based on lies.

That would mean that the primary blame belongs with the politicians and the military leadership, not necessarily with the veterans; however they may need more treatment, at least in the short run. In the long run it should be clear that we should simply stop fighting these wars based on lies.

The same decision makers that started these wars based partly, if not entirely, on lies, also failed to provide adequate counseling for these veterans when they returned.

This is part of a series of posts exploring the root causes of violent crime and ways to recognize and prevent them. Past posts on the subject include Ignored evidence linking corporal punishment, poverty and crime grows; Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion?; Politics, not technology, caused botched executions and Wal-Mart crime: Rolling Back Safety more than prices?

The following charts show veteran rates by the state and murder rates. The information about veterans rates are from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Population by State, war time, Gulf, Vietnam or Korea; the crime murder and population rates are from FBI statistics; for a table covering the last seventeen years based on FBI statistics see also the DPIC The first chart is in order of the murder rates for states. The second chart is the same information in order based on Gulf War era veterans.

State	Population	Murder Rates per 100,00 people	Total	Rate per 100,000	War Time veterans	Rate per 100,000	Gulf War	Rate per 100,000
Ten states with highest murder rates combined	P:49,024,812	MR:7.0	T:3,827,843	R:7,808	W:2,885,688	R:5,825	G:1,037,878	R:2,117
Ten states with lowest murder rates combined	P:28,118,071	MR:1.8	T:1,967,824	R:6,998	W:1,461,757	R:5,199	G493,476	R:1,782
Ten states with highest veterans rates combined	P:35,168,258	MR:4.49	T:3,141,048	R:8,934	W:2,437,909	R:6,932	G:1,216,658	R:3,460
Ten states with lowest veteran rates combined	P:118,664,354	MR:4.61	T:6,478,000?	R:5,459	W:4,779,118	R:4,027	G:1,584,865	R:1,336
Thirty-one states with highest veterans rates combined or top half of population	P:157,641,537	MR:5.11	T:12,502,986	R:7,931	W:9,493,275	R:6,022	G:4,060,684	R:2,575
Nineteen states plus D.C. with lowest veteran rates combined or bottom half of population	P:161,372,889	MR:4.2	T:9,253,318	R:5,734	W:6,813,942	R:4,222	G:2,271,254	R:1,407
District of Columbia	P:632,323	MR:13.9	T:31,166	R:4,929	W:23,538	R:3,722	G:10,411	R:1,646
Louisiana	P:4,601,893	MR:10.8	T:315,342	R:6,852	W:237,042	R:5,150	G:97,300	R:2,114
Mississippi	P:2,984,926	MR:7.4	T:225,469	R:7,553	W:167,066	R:5,596	G:72.391	R:2,425
Alabama	P:4,601,893	MR:7.1	T:414,963	R:8,606	W:314,530	R:6,523	G:135,637	R:2,813
Michigan	P:9,883,360	MR:7.0	T:660,773	R:6,686	W:483,963	R:4,897	G:134,004	R:1,356
South Carolina	P:4,723,723	MR:6.9	T:420,968	R:8,912	W:319,533	R:6,764	G:140,258	R:2,969
Missouri	P:6,021,988	MR:6.5	T:497,874	R:8,268	W:372,238	R:6,181	G:132,307	R:2,197
Maryland	P:5,884,563	MR:6.3	T:443,076	R:7,528	W:333,817	R:5,673	G:159,573	R:2,712
Delaware	P:917,092	MR:6.2	T:78,016	R:8,507	W:57,990	R:6,323	G:21,044	R:2,295
Tennessee	P:6,456,243	MR:6.0	T:521,267	R:8,074	W:383,913	R:5,946	G:146,724	R:2,273
Arkansas	P:2,949,131	MR:5.9	T:250,095	R:8,480	W:185,596	R:6,293	G:70,959	R:2,406
Georgia	P:9,919,945	MR:5.9	T:774,464,	R:7,807	W:591,413	R:5,962	G:282,435	R:2,847
Illinois	P:12,875,255	MR:5.8	T:744,710	R:5,782	W:553,612	R:4,298	G:192,090	R:1,491
Oklahoma	P:3,814,820	MR:5.7	T:340,395	R:8,923	W:262,702	R:6,886	G:107,951	R:2,830
New Mexico	P:2,085,538	MR:5.6	T:170,699	R:8,184	W:127,287	R:6,103	G:51,109	R:2,451
Arizona	P:6,553,255	MR:5.5	T:527,400	R:8,048	W:396,610	R:6,052	G:156,579	R:2,389
Pennsylvania	P:12,763,536	MR:5.4	T:953,644	R:7,472	W:697,736	R:5,467	G:209,602	R:1,642
Florida	P:19,317,568	MR:5.2	T:1,520,563	R:7,871	W:1,124,394	R:5,821	G:431,062	R:2,231
California	P:38,041,430	MR:5.0	T:1,795,455	R:4,20	W:1,356,978	R:3,567	G:539,671	R:1,419
North Carolina	P:9,752,073	MR:4.9	T:769,384	R:7,889	W:573,472	R:5,881	G:247,012	R:2,533
Indiana	P:6,537,334	MR:4.7	T:490,380	R:7,501	W:357,123	R:5,463	G:130,459	R:1,996
Kentucky	P:4,380,415	MR:4.5	T:339,334	R:7,747	W:248,340	R:5,669	G:94,475	R:2,157
Nevada	P:2,758,931	MR:4.5	T:225,933	R:8,189	W:169,255	R:6,135	G:69,190	R:2,508
New Jersey	P:8,864,590	MR:4.4	T:425,094	R:4,795	W:307,774	R:3,472	G:86,122	R:972
Texas	P:26,059,203	MR:4.4	T:1,667,740	R:6,400	W:1,291,040	R:4,954	G:597,796	R:2,294
Ohio	P:11,544,225	MR:4.3	T:877,894	R:7,605	W:632,618	R:5,480	G:203,049	R:1,759
Alaska	P:731,449	MR:4.1	T:74,671	R:10,209	W:60,538	R:8,276	G:37,027	R:5,062
Connecticut	P:3,590,347	MR:4.1	T:207,759	R:5,787	W:149,628	R:4,168	G:42,662	R:1,188
North Dakota	P:699,628	MR:4.0	T:56,213	R:8,035	W:44,860	R:6,412	G:21,562	R:3,082
West Virginia	P:1,855,413	MR:3.9	T:173,389	R:9,345	W:128,208	R:6,910	G:46,125	R:2,486
Virginia	P:8,185,867	MR:3.8	T:840,398	R:10,266	W:675,835	R:8,256	G:404,504	R:4,941
New York	P:19,570,261	MR:3.5	T:885,796	R:4,526	W:639,063	R:3,265	G:198,212	R:1,013
Rhode Island	P:1,050,292	MR:3.2	T:69,206	R:6,89	W:49,921	R:4,753	G:14,667	R:1,396
Colorado	P:5,187,582	MR:3.1	T:390,824	R:7,534	W:304,261	R:5,865	G:133,330	R:2,570
South Dakota	P:833,354	MR:3.0	T:75,687	R:9,082	W:59,494	R:7,139	G:26,001	R:3,120
Wisconsin	P:5,726,398	MR:3.0	T:409,419	R:7,150	W:298,054	R:5,205	G:95,262	R:1,664
Washington	P:6,897,012	MR:3.0	T:602,272	R:8,732	W:461,678	R:6,694	G:204,814	R:2,970
Kansas	P:2,885,905	MR:2.9	T:223,708	R:7,752	W:175,297	R:6,074	G:71,277	R:2,470
Nebraska	P:1,855,525	MR:2.9	T:138,773	R:7,479	W:108,198	R:5,832	G:43,341	R:2,336
Montana	P:1,005,141	MR:2.7	T:101,597	R:10,108	W:77,175	R:7,678	G:31,096	R:3,094
Wyoming	P:576,412	MR:2.4	T:56,670	R:9,832	W:43,670	R:7,576	G:21,702	R:3,765
Oregon	P:3,899,353	MR:2.4	T:322,355	R:8,267	W:238,879	R:6,126	G:74,454	R:1,909
Hawaii	P:1,392,313	MR:2.1	T:99,928	R:7,177	W:75,438	R:5,148	G:25,482	R:1,830
Maine	P:1,329,192	MR:1.9	T:127,694	R:9,607	W:94,110	R:7,080	G:31,173	R:2,345
Massachusetts	P:6,646,144	MR:1.8	T:374,809	R:5,638	W:273,957	R:4,122	G:79,515	R:1,196
Idaho	P:1,595,728	MR:1.8	T:138,108	R:8,655	W:103,713	R:6,499	G:47,260	R:2,962
Utah	P:2,855,287	MR:1.8	T:150,771	R:5,280	W:118,188	R:4,138	G:53,002	R:1,856
Minnesota	P:5,379,139	MR:1.8	T:360,754	R:6,707	W:266,486	R:4,954	G:88,320	R:1,642
Iowa	P:3,074,186	MR:1.5	T:233,815	R:7,606	W:176,032	R:5,726	G:58,395	R:1,900
Vermont	P:626,011	MR:1.3	T:48,812	R:7,797	W:34,456	R:5,504	G:10,499	R:1,677
New Hampshire	P:1,320,718	MR:1.1	T:110,778	R:8,388	W:80,498	R:6,095	G:25,376	R:1,921

The following chart is the same information in order based on Gulf War era veterans starting with the states with the most.

 

State	Population	Murder Rates per 100,00 people	Total	Rate per 100,000	War Time veterans	Rate per 100,000	Gulf War	Rate per 100,000
Alaska	P:731,449	MR:4.1	T:74,671	R:10,209	W:60,538	R:8,276	G:37,027	R:5,062
Virginia	P:8,185,867	MR:3.8	T:840,398	R:10,266	W:675,835	R:8,256	G:404,504	R:4,941
Wyoming	P:576,412	MR:2.4	T:56,670	R:9,832	W:43,670	R:7,576	G:21,702	R:3,765
South Dakota	P:833,354	MR:3.0	T:75,687	R:9,082	W:59,494	R:7,139	G:26,001	R:3,120
Montana	P:1,005,141	MR:2.7	T:101,597	R:10,108	W:77,175	R:7,678	G:31,096	R:3,094
North Dakota	P:699,628	MR:4.0	T:56,213	R:8,035	W:44,860	R:6,412	G:21,562	R:3,082
Washington	P:6,897,012	MR:3.0	T:602,272	R:8,732	W:461,678	R:6,694	G:204,814	R:2,970
South Carolina	P:4,723,723	MR:6.9	T:420,968	R:8,912	W:319,533	R:6,764	G:140,258	R:2,969
Idaho	P:1,595,728	MR:1.8	T:138,108	R:8,655	W:103,713	R:6,499	G:47,260	R:2,962
Georgia	P:9,919,945	MR:5.9	T:774,464	R:7,807	W:591,413	R:5,962	G:282,435	R:2,847
Oklahoma	P:3,814,820	MR:5.7	T:340,395	R:8,923	W:262,702	R:6,886	G:107,951	R:2,830
Alabama	P:4,601,893	MR:7.1	T:414,963	R:8,606	W:314,530	R:6,523	G:135,637	R:2,813
Maryland	P:5,884,563	MR:6.3	T:443,076	R:7,528	W:333,817	R:5,673	G:159,573	R:2,712
Colorado	P:5,187,582	MR:3.1	T:390,824	R:7,534	W:304,261	R:5,865	G:133,330	R:2,570
North Carolina	P:9,752,073	MR:4.9	T:769,384	R:7,889	W:573,472	R:5,881	G:247,012	R:2,533
Nevada	P:2,758,931	MR:4.5	T:225,933	R:8,189	W:169,255	R:6,135	G:69,190	R:2,508
West Virginia	P:1,855,413	MR:3.9	T:173,389	R:9,345	W:128,208	R:6,910	G:46,125	R:2,486
Kansas	P:2,885,905	MR:2.9	T:223,708	R:7,752	W:175,297	R:6,074	G:71,277	R:2,470
New Mexico	P:2,085,538	MR:5.6	T:170,699	R:8,184	W:127,287	R:6,103	G:51,109	R:2,451
Mississippi	P:2,984,926	MR:7.4	T:225,469	R:7,553	W:167,066	R:5,596	G:72.391	R:2,425
Arkansas	P:2,949,131	MR:5.9	T:250,095	R:8,480	W:185,596	R:6,293	G:70,959	R:2,406
Arizona	P:6,553,255	MR:5.5	T:527,400	R:8,048	W:396,610	R:6,052	G:156,579	R:2,389
Maine	P:1,329,192	MR:1.9	T:127,694	R:9,607	W:94,110	R:7,080	G:31,173	R:2,345
Nebraska	P:1,855,525	MR:2.9	T:138,773	R:7,479	W:108,198	R:5,832	G:43,341	R:2,336
Delaware	P:917,092	MR:6.2	T:78,016	R:8,507	W:57,990	R:6,323	G:21,044	R:2,295
Texas	P:26,059,203	MR:4.4	T:1,667,740	R:6,400	W:1,291,040	R:4,954	G:597,796	R:2,294
Tennessee	P:6,456,243	MR:6.0	T:521,267	R:8,074	W:383,913	R:5,946	G:146,724	R:2,273
Florida	P:19,317,568	MR:5.2	T:1,520,563	R:7,871	W:1,124,394	R:5,821	G:431,062	R:2,231
Kentucky	P:4,380,415	MR:4.5	T:339,334	R:7,747	W:248,340	R:5,669	G:94,475	R:2,157
Missouri	P:6,021,988	MR:6.5	T:497,874	R:8,268	W:372,238	R:6,181	G:132,307	R:2,197
Louisiana	P:4,601,893	MR:10.8	T:315,342	R:6,852	W:237,042	R:5,150	G:97,300	R:2,114
Indiana	P:6,537,334	MR:4.7	T:490,380	R:7,501	W:357,123	R:5,463	G:130,459	R:1,996
New Hampshire	P:1,320,718	MR:1.1	T:110,778	R:8,388	W:80,498	R:6,095	G:25,376	R:1,921
Oregon	P:3,899,353	MR:2.4	T:322,355	R:8,267	W:238,879	R:6,126	G:74,454	R:1,909
Iowa	P:3,074,186	MR:1.5	T:233,815	R:7,606	W:176,032	R:5,726	G:58,395	R:1,900
Utah	P:2,855,287	MR:1.8	T:150,771	R:5,280	W:118,188	R:4,138	G:53,002	R:1,856
Hawaii	P:1,392,313	MR:2.1	T:99,928	R:7,177	W:75,438	R:5,148	G:25,482	R:1,830
Ohio	P:11,544,225	MR:4.3	T:877,894	R:7,605	W:632,618	R:5,480	G:203,049	R:1,759
Vermont	P:626,011	MR:1.3	T:48,812	R:7,797	W:34,456	R:5,504	G:10,499	R:1,677
Wisconsin	P:5,726,398	MR:3.0	T:409,419	R:7,150	W:298,054	R:5,205	G:95,262	R:1,664
District of Columbia	P:632,323	MR:13.9	T:31,166	R:4,929	W:23,538	R:3,722	G:10,411	R:1,646
Minnesota	P:5,379,139	MR:1.8	T:360,754	R:6,707	W:266,486	R:4,954	G:88,320	R:1,642
Pennsylvania	P:12,763,536	MR:5.4	T:953,644	R:7,472	W:697,736	R:5,467	G:209,602	R:1,642
Illinois	P:12,875,255	MR:5.8	T:744,710	R:5,782	W:553,612	R:4,298	G:192,090	R:1,491
California	P:38,041,430	MR:5.0	T:1,795,455	R:4,20	W:1,356,978	R:3,567	G:539,671	R:1,419
Rhode Island	P:1,050,292	MR:3.2	T:69,206	R:6,89	W:49,921	R:4,753	G:14,667	R:1,396
Michigan	P:9,883,360	MR:7.0	T:660,773	R:6,686	W:483,963	R:4,897	G:134,004	R:1,356
Massachusetts	P:6,646,144	MR:1.8	T:374,809	R:5,638	W:273,957	R:4,122	G:79,515	R:1,196
Connecticut	P:3,590,347	MR:4.1	T:207,759	R:5,787	W:149,628	R:4,168	G:42,662	R:1,188
New York	P:19,570,261	MR:3.5	T:885,796	R:4,526	W:639,063	R:3,265	G:198,212	R:1,013
New Jersey	P:8,864,590	MR:4.4	T:425,094	R:4,795	W:307,774	R:3,472	G:86,122	R:972

Of the ten with the highest murder rates one of them is among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and one of them is among those with the lowest veterans rates.

Of the ten states with the lowest murder rates one of them is among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and two of them is among those with the lowest veterans rates.

Of the ten states with the highest incarceration rates one of them is among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and none of them are among those with the lowest veterans rates.

Of the ten states with the lowest incarceration rates three of them are among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and three of them are among those with the lowest veterans rates.

Of the ten states with the highest rates of reported violent crimes two of them are among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and none of them are among those with the lowest veterans rates.

Of the ten states with the lowest rates of reported violent crimes four of them are among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and one of them is among those with the lowest veterans rates.

Of the ten states with the highest rates of gun related deaths two of them are among the ten states with the highest veterans’ rates and none of them are among those with the lowest veterans’ rates.

Of the ten states with the lowest rates of gun related deaths one of them is among the ten states with the highest veterans rates and six of them are among those with the lowest veterans rates.