Rising Violent Crime and the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports in Post 9-11 America

For the second year straight, the FBI reports that violent crime in the United States has risen. According to statistics revealed in early June 2007, there was a 1.3% increase in the number of violent acts committed in 2006, with murders and robberies accounting for most of the increase.

Last year, the FBI reported that the number of violent crimes increased in 2005 by 2.3%. That was the first increase in four years and the most significant increase in over a decade.

According to the report, most of the increase occurred in large cities, where murders and robberies each rose by approximately 6%. The report also reveals that the cities most affected include Orlando and Miami in Florida, Oakland and San Diego in California, Phoenix Arizona, Corpus Christi Texas, Grand Rapids Michigan, Reno Nevada and Little Rock Arkansas. In fact, violent crime rose in every region of the country, except in the Northeast. The West experienced the largest increase at 2.8%.

A recent Justice Department study and a number of famous criminologists cite an increase in violence by local gangs or "street crews," youth violence and gun crimes as causal. Criminologists cited in the Washington Post add that there are fewer police on city streets, blaming the Bush administration's shift in focus from local crime to terrorism which has meant funding cuts for local law enforcement.

It should be noted that the increase is relatively small and, while murders nationwide increased overall by 0.3%, they declined in some large cities and non metropolitan areas -- almost outweighing the increase in big cities. Also, murder is a comparatively rare crime. Although violent crime in general is less commonplace than property crime, crimes such as rape are more frequently committed than murder. And assault is the most frequently committed offense. Therefore, it is relevant to point out that the number of rapes declined by nearly 2% and assaults fell slightly. Further, the more commonplace crimes of property declined nearly 3%.