FBI reports increase in homicides, violent crimes

By Andrea Noble – The Washington Times – Monday, September 26, 2016

The number of violent crimes committed across the U.S. rose by 4 percent last year, and homicides increased even faster, by 11 percent, according to FBI crime data released Monday that reversed years of declining mayhem.

Despite the uptick, the Obama administration said the crime rate remains at near-record lows, with the data showing that violent crime is down 16.5 percent compared with a decade ago.

… Crime upticks from 2004 to 2006 generated similar concern after a decade of declines, said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College. “Everyone started to panic, there was all sorts of speculation, and then it started back down again in 2007 and 2008, and it just plummeted from there,” Mr. Butts said of the overall decline in crime rates. “On a year-by-year basis, you can’t overreact or over-infer.”

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