It's official folks.
2012 saw the first increase in crime rates since 2006.
And if the stories on the news are any indication, 2013 wasn't much better…
We should know in just a few months when the FBI releases the 2013 crime rates report.
But just how are the crime rates?
And how much are they costing the average American each year?
The short infographic below will put it into perspective for you:
One key thing to point out here is that the infographic above was released in 2012 (before the report that noted the increase in crime was released).
So how much has crime actually gone up?
An article posted in the New York Times last year pointed gives a good breakdown:
The nation’s largest cities, those with more than one million people, also had upturns in violent crimes, though at more modest rates. The largest cities had a 1.4 percent increase in violent crime, including 1.5 percent for murders and 3.2 percent for rapes, according to the statistics.
Over all, the nation’s violent crime rate ticked up by 1.2 percent in 2012 after years of steep declines.
In 2011, for instance, the nation’s rate of violent crime rate fell by 3.8 percent after having dropped by 6 percent in 2010 and 5.5 percent in 2009, according to F.B.I. data.
The last year in which violent crime rose nationally was 2006, when the rate went up by 1.9 percent. Before that, from 1996 to 2005, violent crime had declined by 17.6 percent, according to the F.B.I. figures.
In fact, crime levels have been dropping so much for so long that criminologists had been left guessing the reasons — and where it might end.
“We probably now have answered the question of how low it can go, and we may be bouncing off the bottom now,” said Dennis Jay Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
But Dr. Kenney added a note of caution, saying that seeking to pin a reason for a single year’s increase in serious crime was inadvisable. “We probably need another year to tell if we’ve got a pattern here,” he said.
Joseph Pollini, another John Jay College professor, said that one possibility was that there were fewer police officers on patrol in some metropolitan areas that have cut spending sharply in recent years because of the recession.
“You’re dealing with depleted police resources,” he said of budget cuts that have caused a reduction in the size of nearly every urban police department.
Among the big cities where violent crime increased was Indianapolis, with a population of 840,000.
While murders there rose only modestly — the 101 recorded in 2012 were five more than in 2011 — there were nearly 780 additional violent crimes in the city, led by 5,967 aggravated assaults. That figure, according to the F.B.I. data, represents some 700 more aggravated assaults than in 2011.
Memphis, with a population of 657,000, had an increase of more than 1,000 violent crimes — 11,505 in 2012 compared to 10,338 in 2011. That included a jump in the number of murders to 133 from 117.
Crime Rates By City
I little while back, I posted an article that listed the top 100 most violent cities in America
Below are the top 10 from that list:
10. Inkster, MI
9. Newburgh, NY
8. St. Louis, MO
7. Atlantic City, NJ
6. Detroit, MI
5. Saginaw, MI
4. West Memphis, AR
3. Flint, MI
2. Camden, NJ
1. East St. Louis, IL
Do you live anywhere near one of these 10 most violent cities in the U.S.?
If not, don't think you're safe.
I found a website that will break down the crime rates in your specific area… and let's just say that I was shocked to find out how many crimes were committed in my ‘quiet suburban neighborhood”…
City Profiles Report
Our city profile report gives you a snapshot of demographics, finances, economics and other quality-of-life factors so you can find a place where you'll feel at home.
How shocking were your results?
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- See How Your City Handles Halloween Crime and Prevention Tactics
Up Next: My Bug Out Bag Has A Secret…
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Mar 6, 2014, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
I am very skeptical about gubbermint crime stats, just as I am skeptical about their unemployment and inflation stats. How does the gubbermint collect this information? Isn’t there a lot of crime that is never reported?
The stats in the above report list totals, but do not relate to my personal likelihood of experiencing a crime where I live. The total crime here needs to be adjusted for unreported crime, population density, and other factors before it is meaningful to an individual.
For what it’s worth, I’m presently studying for the Actuary exams. I am a former low-level politician (Democrat), and I once worked in the aerospace industry, so I know very well how to lie and cover up with statistics! When somebody asks, “How are you?” I generally reply with “Do you want to hear bad news, or B.S. communist lies from a former politician?”
A much better source of data is a web page http://www.shadowstats.com. They are not operated by or manipulated by lying crooked racist politicians.
. . . Richard
Not sure where the realtor site linked to the city profiles got their data, but it’s damned sure not accurate.
We can only wish we had 1500+ people in this town, and at 35 inches of precip we would be a West Texas jungle.