锡拉丘兹大学（Syracuse University）交易记录访问信息交换所（TRAC）进行的一项新分析显示，过去八年来，联邦对白领犯罪的起诉数量直线下降。
目前，被起诉的白领犯罪数量是2011年的一半，而这本身是这些案件中相对较高的数字。
与白领犯罪有关的起诉书，包括欺诈，身份盗窃，挪用公款和假冒等犯罪，仅去年以来就减少了8.5％。TRAC的分析认为，如果当前趋势继续下去，这些起诉的数量将达到自1986年以来的最低水平。
白领起诉的趋势线不一定与总统个人相关。乔治·W·布什总统就职后，这些起诉的数量保持稳定，然后在第二任期前后有所下降。巴拉克·奥巴马（Barack Obama）总统宣誓就职后，头几年的人数急剧上升，然后在他担任总统的其他任职期间逐渐下降。
唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下的近期趋势似乎继续在奥巴马政府领导下设定的模式。
下降是由于近年来联邦起诉总体有所减少。根据美国司法部统计局对司法部数据的审查，2011年联邦起诉书的总数达到十年来的最高水平，然后在随后的几年中有所下降。
尽管随着白领犯罪起诉在早期案件中有所减少，但起诉总体上激增，这表明布什时代的这些犯罪在联邦案件中所占的比例越来越小。
将数据与行政管理优先级进行比较时，一个重要的警告是，起诉书和其他检察数据通常滞后于总检察长认为值得调查的指标。可以进行多年的刑事调查，这意味着反映给定总统优先事项的最终起诉书不会立即成为关注焦点。
TRAC分析发现，2019年，罗德岛州，纽约市和迈阿密州的检察官提起的案件涉及其管辖范围之多，超过任何其他地区。全国最高的收费是电汇欺诈，银行欺诈，邮件欺诈和身份盗用。
康奈尔大学法学院的法律信息研究所解释说，“由于犯罪者使用复杂的手段通过一系列复杂的交易隐瞒其活动，因此通常难以起诉这些罪行。” 尽管其性质不透明，但白领犯罪可能造成的伤害是真实而昂贵的。该研究所援引FBI的报告称，白领犯罪每年可能使美国损失超过3,000亿美元。
根据2016年宾夕法尼亚州和伊利诺伊州研究人员的研究，白领犯罪分子更可能是白人，受过教育，中年和男性。这些罪犯也往往有配偶，并且很可能会在30年代后期开始犯下第一次犯罪行为。
PROSECUTIONS OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIME ON TRACK TO FALL TO LOWEST LEVELS IN OVER 30 YEARS
The number of federal prosecutions of white-collar crimes has plummeted over the last eight years, according to a new analysis produced by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
Currently, half as many white-collar crimes are being prosecuted as in 2011, which itself marked a relative high for these cases.
Indictments related to white-collar crimes—encompassing offenses such as fraud, identity theft, embezzlement and counterfeiting—fell 8.5 percent since last year alone. TRAC's analysis posits that, if current trends continue, the number of these prosecutions will reach its lowest level since 1986.
Trendlines for white-collar prosecutions don't necessarily correlate with individual presidents. After President George W. Bush took office, the number of these prosecutions held steady before declining around his second term. After President Barack Obama was sworn in the number sharply increased for the first couple years before embarking on a gradual decline throughout the rest of his presidency.
Recent trends under President Donald Trump appear to continue a pattern set under the Obama administration.
The drop-off comes as federal prosecutions overall have declined in recent years. The number of total federal indictments reached a decade-long high in 2011 before sloping downward over the subsequent years, according to a review of Justice Department data provided by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Although, as white-collar crimes prosecutions languished in the early aughts, prosecutions overall surged, indicating that these crimes during the Bush years made a smaller and smaller share of federal cases.
An important caveat when comparing the data with administration priorities is that indictments and other prosecutorial data are often lagging indicators of what an attorney general decides is worthy of investigation. Criminal probes can be drawn out for years, meaning that eventual indictments reflecting the priorities of a given president won't come into focus immediately.
In 2019, prosecutors in Rhode Island, New York City and Miami pursued more cases relative to the size of their jurisdiction than any other district, the TRAC analysis found. The top charges nationwide here wire fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud and identity theft.
Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute explains that these crimes are often difficult to prosecute "because the perpetrators use sophisticated means to conceal their activities through a series of complex transactions." Despite their opaque nature, the harm white-collar offenses can cause is real and costly. Citing the FBI, the institute reports that white-collar crimes can deprive the United States of more than $300 billion each year.
According to a 2016 study from researchers in Pennsylvania and Illinois, white-collar criminals are more likely to be white, educated, middle-aged and male. These offenders also tend to have a spouse and are likely to commit their first criminal act starting in their late-30s.
