crime rate

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FBI: Violent Crime Is Down, Property Crime Is Up

Violence has receded to pre-pandemic levels, according to agency's annual reports

(Newser) - Violent crime across the US decreased last year—dropping to about the same level as before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—but property crimes rose substantially, according to data in the FBI's annual crime report released Monday. The report comes with an asterisk: Some law enforcement agencies failed...

How the Coronavirus Is Affecting Crime

Certain crimes are down, but a murder-suicide makes headlines in Chicago

(Newser) - Police say a Chicago man killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself because he believed they both had the coronavirus, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Officers found Patrick Jesernik, 54, and Cheryl Schriefer, 59, on Thursday night, lying dead in their home on Bruce Road. Family told them...

10 Most Violent Cities in US
10 Most Violent
Cities in US
Sep 28, 2017 5:28 PM CDT

10 Most Violent Cities in US

Detroit tops the list

(Newser) - There were 1.2 million violent crimes committed in the US in 2016, the FBI reported Monday. It was a 4.1% increase from 2015 and the second year in a row crime rates have risen. On average, there were 386 violent crimes for every 100,000 US residents. But...

Blip or Trend? Violent Crime Spikes for 2nd Straight Year

Attorney General Sessions says trend cannot continue

(Newser) - Violent crime in America rose for the second straight year in 2016, but it remained near historically low levels, according to FBI data released Monday. The numbers were driven by a spike in killings in some major cities, per the AP . Violent crimes such as shootings and robberies rose 4....

6 Cities With Fastest-Rising Crime Rates

San Luis Obispo tops the list, with crimes up 58%

(Newser) - Is there something in the air in San Luis Obispo? The number of violent crimes including rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, and murders, spiked 58% in the metropolitan area from 2010 to 2014, making it home to the fastest-rising crime rate of any US city. Interestingly, the crime rate 30 miles...

Why Chicago's Crime Rates Plummeted

Chicago Magazine alleges plot to fudge statistics

(Newser) - Chicago politicians are trumpeting last year's unprecedented drop in crime rates, but on second glance it may be a case of lies, damned lies, and statistics, Chicago Magazine reports. Insiders at City Hall and the police department say that when crime soared in 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel felt the...

US Violent Crime Sees First Hike in 6 Years

Years of declines bottom out

(Newser) - For the first time since 2006, violent crime climbed in the US last year, preliminary FBI data show. Nationally, violent crime was up 1.2%. Urban areas led the increase, with cities of between 500,000 and 1 million people seeing a 3.7% jump in rates; murder rates in...

The Real Cause of Violent Crime: Leaded Gasoline

Lead poisoning created a generation of criminals: Kevin Drums

(Newser) - Violent crime has fallen in the US for years, but why? Experts have floated theories ranging from police techniques to the "crack epidemic" to the legalizing of abortion, but none quite fit the facts. One, however, does: lead poisoning. In Mother Jones , Kevin Drums reports that the rise and...

US Violent Crime Climbs for First Time Since 1993

Assaults increase 22%: Justice department

(Newser) - For the first time since 1993, America's violent crime rate has increased—thanks to an increased rate of assaults, CNN reports. Assaults climbed 22% last year, Justice department figures show; 2010 saw assaults at a record low. In 2011, assault victims accounted for 22.5 people per 1,000,...

Belief in Heaven, Hell Alters Crime Rates

Believers in heaven more likely to be unlawful: study

(Newser) - If God is going to let you off easy, why not commit the crime? That sums up the findings of a study by two US professors who say that countries with a belief in hell have lower crime rates than those with a greater belief in heaven, the Daily Mail ...

FBI: Violent Crime Near Historic Low

Crime rate dropping despite economic downturn

(Newser) - The violent crime rate in the US dropped for the fifth straight year in 2011, and is approaching a low not seen in decades, according to new FBI data. The overall violent crime rate fell 4%, with murders down 1.9%, and rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults down 4%—although...

Behind City's Falling Crime Rate: Misreported Cases
Behind City's Falling Crime Rate: Misreported Cases
investigation
May 23, 2012 6:27 PM CDT

Behind City's Falling Crime Rate: Misreported Cases

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finds hundreds of cases wrongly downgraded

(Newser) - Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn had great news for the city in February: Violent crime had fallen for the fourth straight year. Except it hadn't, reports the Journal Sentinel . Its investigation found that the police department misreported at least 500 incidents since 2009. In many cases, aggravated assaults—which...

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?
 Can Birdsong 
 Cut Crime? 
Jan 17, 2012 3:30 PM CST

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?

California mayor says it already has

(Newser) - Crime has dropped in a California town, and residents should be thanking their fine feathered friends, says the mayor. Last year, he began piping recorded birdsong to 70 speakers on a highway. Minor crime dropped 15% from 2010 while serious crimes dropped 6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's...

Biden Complains After Ambush Interview

His office want to know: Were rules broken?

(Newser) - Joe Biden is not happy about the ambush interview that landed him on cable TV—and he’s letting the press gallery’s standing committee of correspondents know about it. Jason Mattera of the conservative blog Human Events caught Biden off guard last week by asking to take a photo...

Violent Crime Fell 6% Last Year: FBI

Rate drops for 4th year in a row

(Newser) - Violent crime is down for the fourth year in a row, the FBI says. Last year, it fell 6%, accompanied by a 2.7% drop in property crime—which has also steadily fallen for the past eight years, the AP reports. Some 1.2 million violent crimes and 9 million...

Top City for Working Moms: Minneapolis
 Top City for Working 
 Moms: Minneapolis  
no. 2: Washington, dc
Aug 1, 2010 12:49 PM CDT

Top City for Working Moms: Minneapolis

Forbes weighs women's salaries, safety, unemployment

(Newser) - With its low rates of unemployment and violent crime, combined with relatively high salaries for women, the Minneapolis/St. Paul area tops the Forbes list of best cities for working mothers. The magazine gave added weight in this year's rankings to women's income, and when the numbers were crunched, the Minnesota...

Hate Crimes Up Just 2%, But Gay-Bashing Soars: FBI

Religiously motivated crimes also surge

(Newser) - The incidence of reported hate crimes in the US rose 2% in 2008, with huge surges in religion- and sexual orientation-based offenses. The FBI compiled the stats but cautions that an increase in reporting—not in crime itself—could be responsible. The AP looks at some numbers:
  • Of 7,783
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Murders of Black Teens Soar 39%
Murders of Black
Teens Soar 39%
Dec 29, 2008 4:07 AM CST

Murders of Black Teens Soar 39%

Cuts in policing, youth programs blamed

(Newser) - Murders of black teens between the ages of 14 and 17 are up 39% since the start of the millennium—five times the overall homicide surge in the same period, and twice that of white teens, reports the Wall Street Journal. The authors of the study attribute some of the...

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