For violent theft, France recorded 185 incidents per 100,000 people, compared with 145 in the United States. For simple theft, France had 2,588 incidents per 100,000 people, compared with 2,475 in the United States. And car theft was far higher in France, with 507 reported cases per 100,000 compared with 420 in the United States."
See also: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/03/26/france.crime/ and http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A38162-2001Aug20?language=printer
This is worth reading, http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_4_the_barbarians.html, considering that it briefly details concerns about crappy schools and illiteracy rates in France. Oh. Dear. You mean the cheese eating surrender monkeys may no longer be held up as the epitomy of civilization. (Don't get me wrong, I'd like to get the hell out of this country --though to do so, I'll surely have to work for the military --and I'd prefer France of all places.)
Caveat: Comparing crime rates is difficult because reporting isn't held constant, nor are definitions of crime, how crime is counted (couting attempts at murder for v murders), and the rates are senstive to things like "crime crackdowns," etc. etc.
THere are some Interpol stats that rightnuts like to cite. Interpol put US _last_ among G7 nations. I can't remember what the flaws were with that data, maybe someone else does.
Overall Crime Rate per 100,000 population (Interpol)
1995 2001 1995 - 2001
Canada 9,163 8,573 France 6,317 6,941 Germany 8,179 7,736 Italy 3,994 3,748 Japan 1,486 2,210 UK 7,206 9,928 US 5,278 4,161
There are drawbacks to officially reported crime stats though. One way to check their accuracy is to use crime victimization surveys. (One thing we know from them is that, official stats from police depts maintain a much higher incident of crime committed by blacks, but when victims report who their attacker was, the number goes down. Makes you go: hmmmmm.)
There's also the International Crime Victimization Survey which shows that the US crime rate has gone down drastically since 1980, while places like Australia have seen big increases in some kinds of crime.
http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR-STUDY/02973.xml
There are pros and cons about using surveys of _victims_ to compare. I just wrote an overview of them, but folks are using victmization reports as the more accurate indicator through which to _compare_ data between cities/states/nations. They are less subject to politicized police crime reporting, local "crime waves" that are actually the result of political electoral machines that induce them, etc.
Murder rate is higher in the U.S., but as we know, the bulk of our murders are commmitted by family/friends. I was just ranting at R about this last night and the number I recalled off the top of my head was that 75% of murders are committed by family members. Ooops, I happen to remember correctly, here's what I wrote a while back:
"The US homicide rate was 4.6 per 100,000 in 1950. Today, it 5.7 per 100,000 (as of 2000). The upward trend started in the mid-60s and peaked out in 1980. [I add: there are 5 theories, none of which has been shown to be THE theory, but one important one has to do with demographics, namely the baby boom coincided with rising crime rates. Violent crime tends to be highest among 16-40 y.o. males. Not surprisingly, you see the crime rate rise as the baby boomers came of age.]
3/4 of homicides were committed by acquaintances, neighbors, family members, intimate partners. Women are homicide victims at twice the rate of men. Half the murders by strangers were committed in the commission of a felony such as robbery, burglary. 40% were the result of an argument
Another problem w/ international comparisons is that, to some extent, crime stats are an artefact of the criminal justice system itself. If you have a vast apparatus for apprehending and prosecuting people, you will have--voila!--more crime. Another problem is how homicide crimes are prosecuted and counted."
http://www.cis.org.au/Policy/summer02-03/polsumm0203-1.htm
>I think the one leads to the other, that the every-man-for-himself
>attitude in the US leads to crime (a risk) at all class levels in our
>society and thus the need to protect ourselves from becoming its
>victim. Is there anywhere in Europe where violent or white collar
>crime is as high as it is here? Do the sidewalks in many European
>cities roll up at sunset? Do European news broadcasts devote a
>quarter of their time discussing the most sensational local crimes or
>other fear-mongering tactics? I doubt it.
>
>--tully