Washington – A recent rise in violent crime accelerated in the first half of 2006, providing the clearest sign yet that the nation is in the midst of a prolonged increase in murder, assaults and other violent offenses, the FBI reported today.
Violent crime reports surged by nearly 4 percent in the first six months of 2006 when compared with the same time period a year earlier, including a dramatic increase of nearly 10 percent for robberies, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.
The numbers showed robbery increases for cities of all sizes, including a 13 percent jump for some of the smallest with populations from 10,000 to 24,999. Murders and assault also rose by more than 1 percent, while the number of reported rapes dipped slightly.
The results follow on the heels of a 2.5 percent surge in violent crimes for 2005, which marked the highest rate of increase in 15 years. The latest numbers suggest that those results were not an anomaly, but rather part of the first significant uptick in violent crime since the early 1990s.
The recent crime increases have prompted widespread criticism by police chiefs and state law enforcement officials around the country, who complain that the federal government has retreated from providing money and other help to localities in favor of programs focused on counterterrorism and homeland security.
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston who has been critical of the Bush administration’s crime-fighting strategies, said the surge in crime is expected given dramatic cuts in assistance to local police agencies and simultaneous increases in the population of young males most likely to commit violent acts.
“We have many high-crime areas where gangs have made a comeback, where police resources are down, and where whatever resources there are have been shifted to antiterrorism activity,” Fox said. “It’s robbing Peter, and maybe even murdering Peter, to pay Paul.” Justice Department officials have previously rejected such criticisms, arguing that federal policies play a limited role in combating local crime. One senior Justice official called the 2005 statistics a “yellow flag” that did not represent a trend.
At the same time, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales increasingly has focused on combating violence and gang crimes in recent public appearances, and the department has launched a study to find explanations for the recent crime increase. A Justice spokesman said today that researchers are in the midst of visiting the 18 cities that are included in the study, which was announced in October.
The one positive piece of news from the latest FBI report comes in the category of property crimes, which dropped 2.6 percent overall even as violent offenses rose. Even that portion of the report contained some bad news, however: Burglaries rose 1.2 percent nationwide.
Arson crimes, which are tracked separately from other offenses, also jumped nearly 7 percent – including a 20 percent jump in cities under 100,000 but over 50,000.
Rising murder rates have prompted particular concern among both local and federal law enforcement officials, particularly because a surge in killings and other violent attacks in the Midwest played a significant role in driving up overall crime rates in 2005.
The latest numbers show a continued increase in murders, including an 8.4 percent rise for larger cities of 500,000 to 1 million residents. Overall, reported murders were up 3.1 percent in all metropolitan counties, the FBI said.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said, “We are encouraged by the drop in property crime seen in most areas around the country, but we are again concerned about the increase in violent crime in some cities and towns.” Roehrkasse also said the department’s ongoing crime study will help determine “what is causing this increase and to determine which crime-fighting efforts are most effective.”
