FBI: Crime Reported to Police Fell Last Year

FBI: Crime Reported to Police Fell Last Year

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Site/byline_ap.gif

By PETE YOST Associated Press
WASHINGTON October 29, 2012 (AP)

The number of violent crimes reported to police decreased 3.8 percent last year to 1.2 million, the fifth straight year of declines, the FBI announced Monday.

Meanwhile, the total number of property crime reported to law enforcement agencies went down by 0.5 percent to 9 million, the ninth consecutive year that figure has fallen. Property crimes resulted in estimated losses of $156.6 billion.

The South accounted for 41.3 percent of violent crime, while the West had 22.9 percent of it. The Midwest claimed 19.5 percent of the cases and the Northeast, 16.2 percent.

In 2011, authorities solved nearly 64 percent of murders, over 40 percent of forcible rapes, nearly 29 percent of robberies and nearly 57 percent of aggravated assaults.

The FBI said firearms were used in two-thirds of the nation's murders last year, and in two out of every five robberies and in one out of five aggravated assaults.

The FBI's crime reporting program is one of two statistical measures of crime levels issued by the Justice Department. The FBI program captures crimes that are reported to police. Historically, less than half of all crimes, including violent crimes, are reported to police. The other measure, the national crime victimization survey, is designed to capture crime data whether it is reported to police or not. That survey is based on interviews of crime victims.

Two weeks ago, the victimization survey reported that violent crimes jumped 18 percent last year, the first rise in nearly 20 years, while property crimes rose for the first time in a decade. Academic experts say the new government data fall short of signaling a reversal of the longterm decline in crime.

The survey found that the increase in the number of violent crimes was the result of an upward swing in simple assaults, which rose 22 percent, from 4 million in 2010 to 5 million last year. The incidence of rape, sexual assault and robbery remained largely unchanged, as did serious violent crime involving weapons or injury.

The experts said the percentage increases last year were so large primarily because the 2011 crime totals were compared to historically low levels of crime in 2010. Violent crime has fallen by 65 percent since 1993, according to the victimization survey.

FBI: Crime Reported to Police Fell Last Year - ABC News

Tell me if I am correct about this.

When we ask the FBI top brass what the crime rates are under the Obama administration, they give us statistics saying violent crime and property crimes are down.

But when we do a survey of victims out there we find that crime is dramatically up for property or violent crimes?

Sounds like someone might not be telling the truth and i wonder if it would be the Obama administration employees at the FBI or the victims of crime taking a survey?

W

Chicago: Homicides already pass mark for 2011, defying trend in other US cities While the murder rate in Chicago is half of what it was decades ago, it is rising even as homicides in other major US cities like New York and Los Angeles are falling.


By Mark Guarino, Staff writer / October 29, 2012

Chicago
With two months left in 2012, the number of homicides in Chicago has already surpassed the total count for all of 2011, a trend sharply at odds with other large US cities.

Deadly shootings over the weekend pushed the Chicago homicide total to 435, two more than the 2011 total of 433. Year-end homicide counts reached 436 in 2010 and 436 in 2009.

Most criminologists say murder rates need to be examined over a long time period to assess reasons for movement, whether up or down. In fact, the Chicago homicide rate is half of what it was in decades past. In 1991, for example, homicides in the city totaled 928.

Obama vs. Romney 101: 4 ways they compare on gun control

However, the early bump in Chicago runs counter to trends in both New York City and Los Angeles, the two largest metropolitan areas in the US. Year-to-date homicides in New York City ending October 21 are at 339; in 2011, the total homicide count was 515. For Los Angeles, year-to-date homicides reached 241; the total homicide count was 297 in 2011.

This past summer was one of the deadliest on record in Chicago. Weekend shooting totals drew national attention and put the city on the defensive as it tried to explain the skyrocketing rate as an increase in gang-on-gang violence.

In July, the police department launched a comprehensive plan of action it called the Gang Violence Reduction Strategy, which focused on prevention to possibly reduce retaliatory violence. The plan also coordinated police efforts with other city services to target environmental factors that breed violence, including street graffiti, broken streetlights, and abandoned buildings.

According to city officials, the strategy is responsible so far for 1,492 arrests and the seizure of $122 million in narcotics. Last week, the city announced that, in targeting gang factions, the city prevented over 5,500 gang members from returning to the street.

One long-term strategy in the city is cracking down on gun ownership. While Chicago became the last city in the US to allow the sale and possession of handguns, city and Cook County officials have tried alternate ways to make owning a gun more difficult within city borders.

One recent method: A proposed tax on firearms and bullets by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Under the proposal, which was announced last week, the county will impose a nickel tax on each bullet sold and a $25 fee for each firearm sold, affecting the 40 federally licensed gun dealers in the county. Law enforcement officials will be exempt from the tax, which is estimated to generate about $1 million annually and used for agencies that provide medical care for gunshot victims.

“The legal gun shops in suburban Cook County are a conduit for crimes in Chicago. There’s no way around it,” Ms. Preckwinkle told a local newspaper editorial board in a transcript released by her office last week.

City police officials also announced last week the department was adopting special technology that will detect and locate gunshots in two 1.5-square mile areas on the South and West sides, which will allow for a speedier response by police and better forensic and crime analysis.

The increase in Chicago homicides contradicts new numbers released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Monday that shows the number of violent crimes reported to police decreased nearly 4 percent in 2011 compared with the previous year. In 2011, 64.8 percent of violent crimes were homicides.

Chicago: Homicides already pass mark for 2011, defying trend in other US cities - CSMonitor.com